gravid - Word of the Day - 01/11/16

gravid

adjective

Pronunciation

GRAV-id

Definition

1 : pregnant
2 : distended with or full of eggs

Examples

"We know by intuition and study that great books approach a condition both above and below human … and our job is to place ourselves somewhere on the continuum between those shifting poles, to welcome a gravid agitation …; to have our personhood both threatened and amplified." — William Giraldi, The New York Times, 26 Jan. 2014

"Her laugh overtakes her.… It's restorative; it brings light into her eyes and her high, round cheekbones into sharp relief. She has a radiance sometimes, almost gravid, and it's usually when she's been laughing." — Tom Junod, Esquire, 1 Feb. 2016

Did You Know?

Gravid comes from Latin gravis, meaning "heavy." It can refer to a female who is literally pregnant, and it also has the figurative meanings of pregnant: "full or teeming" and "meaningful." Thus, a writer may be gravid with ideas as she sits down to write; a cloud may be gravid with rain; or a speaker may make a gravid pause before announcing his remarkable findings.

Word Quiz

What verb derived from Latin gravis can mean "to make worse" or "to make angry"?

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sepulchre - Word of the Day -31/10/16

sepulchre

noun

Pronunciation

SEP-ul-ker

Definition

1 : a place of burial : tomb
2 : a receptacle for religious relics especially in an altar

Examples

"The secrets of business—complicated and often dismal mysteries—were buried in his breast, and never came out of their sepulchre save now…." — Charlotte Brontë, Shirley, 1849

"He had begun making plans for his sepulchre soon after his election to the papacy in 1503, ultimately conceiving of a memorial that was to be the largest since the mausoleums built for Roman emperors such as Hadrian and Augustus." — Ross King, Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling, 2002

Did You Know?

Sepulchre (also spelled sepulcher) first appeared in Middle English around the beginning of the 13th century. It was originally spelled sepulcre, a spelling taken from Anglo-French. Like many words borrowed into English from French, sepulchre has roots buried in Latin. The word arose from Latin sepulcrum, a noun derived from the verb sepelire, meaning "to bury." Sepultus, the past participle of sepelire, gave us—also by way of Anglo-French—the related noun sepulture, which is a synonym of burial and sepulchre.

Test Your Vocabulary

Unscramble the letters to create the name for a building in which bodies or bones are deposited: RHELANC.

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titivate - Word of the Day - 30/10/16

titivate

verb

Pronunciation

TIH-tuh-vayt

Definition

: to make or become smart or spruce

Examples

"It was instantly clear, however, that she had not been idle, but busy titivating: painting her nails, washing her hair, doing her face…." — Rosamunde Pilcher, September, 1990

"I came here as a student …, but I spent more time in Cannon Hill Park two miles from the city centre. I clearly remember watching the gardeners titivate the flower beds and strolling past the lake through the many choice trees." — Val Bourne, The Daily Telegraph (London), 21 May 2016

Did You Know?

Titivate, spruce, smarten, and spiff all mean "to make a person or thing neater or more attractive." Titivate often refers to making small additions or alterations in attire ("titivate the costume with sequins and other accessories"), but it can also be used figuratively (as in "titivating the script for Broadway"). Spruce up is sometimes used for cosmetic changes or renovations that give the appearance of newness ("spruce up the house with new shutters and fresh paint before trying to sell it"). Smarten up and spiff up both mean to improve in appearance often by making more neat or stylish ("the tailor smartened up the suit with minor alterations"; "he needed some time to spiff himself up for the party"). The origins of titivate are uncertain, but it may have been formed from the English words tidy and renovate.

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to create an adjective that is used to describe a neat and tidy appearance: n _ t _ y.

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osculate - Word of the Day -29/10/16

osculate

verb

Pronunciation

AHSS-kyuh-layt

Definition

: kiss

Examples

"One thing I forgot to ask the guy in the bar: When his significant other ended their relationship, did she at least osculate him goodbye?" — Mike Royko, "Love Lost in Lingo," 3 June 1981

"Attorney Dan Bailey was the officiant-with-a-sense-of-humor, advising the groom, 'You may now osculate your bride.'" — Business Observer (Sarasota, Florida), 24 May 2012

Did You Know?

Osculate comes from the Latin noun osculum, meaning "kiss" or "little mouth." It was included in a dictionary of "hard" words in 1656, but we have no evidence that anyone actually used it until the 19th century—except for scientists who used it differently to mean "to have contact with." Today, osculate is used in geometry for the action of a pair of curves or surfaces that touch so that they have a common tangent at the point of contact. When osculate is used to mean "kiss," the context is typically humorous.

Test Your Memory

What former Word of the Day is based on the Latin verb liquēre, meaning "to be fluid," and is used to refer to the softening or liquefying of mushrooms as they age?

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variegated - Word of the Day - 28/10/16

variegated

adjective

Pronunciation

VAIR-ee-uh-gay-tud
 

Definition

1 : having discrete markings of different colors
2 : various, diverse, varied

Examples

The flower has bright variegated petals.

"Everyone of significance in the region has multiple agendas and variegated geopolitical interests." — Robert Robb, The Arizona Republic, 21 Aug. 2016

Did You Know?

Variegated has been adding color to our language since the 17th century. It is used in botany to describe the presence of two or more colors in the leaves, petals, or other parts of plants, and it also appears in the names of some animals (such as the variegated cutworm). It can be used by the general speaker to refer to anything marked with different colors ("a variegated silk robe," for instance) or to things that are simply various and diverse ("a variegated collection"). Variegated has a variety of relatives in English—it is ultimately derived from the Latin root varius, meaning "varied," which also gave us vary, various, and variety.

Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of variegated: FAIMDNLO

Merriam-Webster

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myriad - Word of the Day -27/10/16

myriad

noun

Pronunciation

MEER-ee-ud

Definition

1 : ten thousand
2 : a great number

Examples

"After sold-out shows in New York and Los Angeles, Rise will make its debut in Boston with a myriad of hand-carved jack o' lanterns that will light up a trail that people can walk on as music plays in the background." — Matt Juul, Boston Magazine, 21 Sept. 2016

"The robust and metallic nest-like venue, which is the first ever arena to be run entirely on solar power, features additional popular local restaurants, grab-and-go fresh fruits and vegetables, a touch of Sacramento history with their refurbished neon signs, and a myriad of local microbreweries." — Michael Morris, The Vallejo (California) Times-Herald, 28 Sept. 2016

Did You Know?

In English, the "ten thousand" sense of myriad mostly appears in references to Ancient Greece, such as the following from English historian Connop Thirwall's History of Greece: "4000 men from Peloponnesus had fought at Thermopylae with 300 myriads." More often, English speakers use myriad in the broad sense—both as a singular noun ("a myriad of tiny particles") and a plural noun ("myriads of tiny particles"). Myriad can also serve as an adjective meaning "innumerable" ("myriad particles"). While some usage commentators criticize the noun use, it's been firmly established in English since the 16th century, and in fact is about 200 years older than the adjective. Myriad comes from Greek myrias, which in turn comes from myrioi, meaning "countless" or "ten thousand."

Name That Synonym

What 4-letter word beginning with "h" is a synonym of myriad?

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beatific - Word of the Day -26/10/16

beatific

adjective

Pronunciation

bee-uh-TIFF-ik

Definition

1 : of, possessing, or imparting a state of utmost bliss
2 : having a blissful appearance

Examples

"She was Italian, funny, a beatific tomboy, with just the hint of a lazy eye, and wore a pair of glasses that made me think of the wonders of the library." — Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run, 2016

"Maybe it was the unexpected warmth of the gesture….  Maybe it was his response, the beatific expression on his face, eyes almost closed, head tilted toward her shoulder.… But when Michelle Obama hugged former President George W. Bush … at a ceremony to open the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the image quickly took flight online." — Mark Landler, The New York Times, 26 Sept. 2016

Did You Know?

Beatific—which derives from Latin beatificus, meaning "making happy"—has graced the English language as a word describing things that impart consummate bliss since the 17th century. In theology, the phrase "beatific vision" gained meaning as an allusion to the direct sight of God enjoyed by the blessed in heaven. Today, the word more frequently describes a blissful look or appearance. A closely related word is beatitude, which can refer to a state of utmost bliss or to any of the declarations made by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to create a synonym of beatific: e _ _ si _ n.

Merriam-Webster

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