rejuvenate - Word of the Day - 01/01/17

rejuvenate

verb

Pronunciation

 rih-JOO-vuh-nayt

Definition

1 : to make young or youthful again : give new vigor to
2 : to restore to an original or new state

Examples

The new arts complex and adjacent businesses have rejuvenated the city and turned downtown into a destination for visitors.

"I was drained. When I started thinking about doing another album, I had all this self-doubt. I didn't think the songs would be any good. But I pushed through, and when 'Slipstream' was so well-received, it rejuvenated me." — Bonnie Raitt, quoted in The Chicago Tribune, 18 Mar. 2016

Did You Know?

Rejuvenate originated as a combination of the prefix re-, which means "again," with a Latin term that also gave us the words juvenile and junior—juvenis, meaning "young." Rejuvenate literally means "to make young again" and can imply a restoration of physical or mental strength or a return to a more youthful, healthy condition, as when you try to rejuvenate your skin with moisturizer. You can also rejuvenate things that are timeworn. For instance, a lackluster brand can be rejuvenated by a new marketing campaign.

Test Your Vocabulary

What word begins with "e" and is the name for a substance held to be capable of prolonging life indefinitely?

Merriam-Webster

http://creatingcharactersforfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/

zeitgeist - Word of the Day - 31/12/16

zeitgeist

noun

Pronunciation

TSYTE-gyste

Definition

: (often capitalized Zeitgeist) the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era

Examples

The movie does an excellent job of capturing the zeitgeist of the dot-com boom.

"The people making the product are the same demographic as the people using the product. They don't have to rely on research and data to inform product decisions—they're just making things that they themselves want to use based on the zeitgeist of their generation." — Rachel Pasqua, quoted in Adweek, 3 Nov. 2016

Did You Know?

Scholars have long maintained that each era has a unique spirit, a nature or climate that sets it apart from all other epochs. In German, such a spirit is known as Zeitgeist, from the German words Zeit, meaning "time," and Geist, meaning "spirit" or "ghost." Some writers and artists assert that the true zeitgeist of an era cannot be known until it is over, and several have declared that only artists or philosophers can adequately explain it. We don't know if that's true, but we do know that zeitgeist has been a useful addition to the English language since at least 1835.

Test Your Vocabulary

What 4-letter word can refer to a distinctive atmosphere or impression surrounding a person or thing, or to a glow around the head of a deity or saint?


Merriam-Webster

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

solicitous - Word of the Day - 30/12/16

solicitous

adjective

Pronunciation

suh-LIS-uh-tus

Definition

1 : showing attentive care or protectiveness : manifesting or expressing solicitude
2 : full of concern or fears : apprehensive
3 : meticulously careful
4 : full of desire : eager

Examples

Lyle has developed a reputation as one of the best tailors in the area because he is solicitous of his customers and their needs.

"Any given meal included a plethora of delectable choices, including barbecued ribs, schnitzel, ice cream and German chocolate cake, served up by solicitous staff." — Erica Rosenberg, The Chicago Tribune, 2 Oct. 2016

Did You Know?

If you're solicitous about learning the connections between words, you'll surely want to know about the relationship between solicitous and another word you've probably heard before—solicit. Solicitous doesn't come from solicit, but the two words are related. They both have their roots in the Latin word sollicitus, meaning "anxious." Solicitous itself came directly from this Latin word, whereas solicit made its way to English with a few more steps. From sollicitus came the Latin verb sollicitare, meaning "to disturb, agitate, move, or entreat." Forms of this verb were borrowed into Anglo-French, and then Middle English, and have survived in Modern English as solicit.

Word Quiz

Fill in the blanks to complete a noun that is derived from Latin sollicitare and refers to a relaxed and calm state: _ _ s _ uc _ _ _ ce.

Merriam-Webster

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

beleaguer - Word of the Day - 29/12/16

beleaguer

verb

Pronunciation

bih-LEE-gur

Definition

1 : to cause distress to : besiege
2 : trouble, harass

Examples

Despite being beleaguered by injuries, the scrappy football team fought hard and managed to make the playoffs.

"We must work to implement reforms like the Baltimore Metropolitan Council's Plan for Sustainable Development that offer practical remedies for the extensive pockets of generational poverty that beleaguer our region." — Elijah E. Cummings, The Baltimore Sun, 22 Apr. 2016

Did You Know?

English speakers created beleaguer from the Dutch word belegeren in the 16th century. "[Military men] will not vouchsafe … to use our ancient terms belonging to matters of war, but do call a camp by the Dutch name," commented the English soldier and diplomat Sir John Smyth in 1590. The word for "camp" that he was referring to is leaguer. That term in turn comes from Dutch leger, which is one of the building blocks of belegeren (literally, "to camp around"). But neither leaguer nor beleaguer were in fact utterly foreign. Old English leger, the source of our modern lair, is related to the Dutch word. And Old English be- ("about, around"), as seen in besiege and beset, is related to the Dutch prefix be- in belegeren.

Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of beleaguer: VEBIEDL.

Merriam-Webster

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

ultima - Word of the Day - 28/12/16

ultima

noun

Pronunciation

 UL-tuh-muh

Definition

: the last syllable of a word

Examples

For the last line of her poem, Sheila needed a word with an ultima that rhymed with "green," so she tried "magazine."

"A grave accent can occur only on the ultima." — Rodney J. Decker, Reading Koine Greek, 2015

Did You Know?

In Latin, ultima is the feminine form of the adjective ultimus ("farthest or last"), the superlative form of ulter, meaning "situated beyond." The ultima is the last syllable of a word; the second-to-last syllable in a word is called the penult or penultima (literally, "that which is almost last"); and the third-to-last syllable is called the antepenult or antepenultima ("that which comes before what is almost last"). The related word ultimate, while known to most people as meaning "the best or most extreme of its kind" (as in "surfers finding the ultimate wave"), has an original meaning referring to the last of something in a series.

Test Your Vocabulary

What 4-letter word begins with "c" and refers to the ending part of a piece of music?

Merriam-Webster

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

veridical - Word of the Day - 27/12/16

veridical

adjective

Pronunciation

 vuh-RID-ih-kul

Definition

1 : truthful, veracious
2 : not illusory : genuine

Examples

"All psychotherapies are based on the fact that memory is not veridical, that unconscious desires and fantasies exert their force on us all.…" — Henry Kaminer, The Weekly Standard, 31 July 2000

"In this book, therefore, 'perception' is used to cover all sensory experience, whether veridical or not." — Jeffrey Gray, Consciousness: Creeping Up on the Hard Problem, 2004

Did You Know?

We'll tell only the truth here: veridical comes from the Latin word veridicus, which itself is from two other Latin words: verus, meaning "true," and dicere, meaning "to say." Verus is an ancestor of several English words, among them verity, verify, and very (which originally meant "true"). The word verdict is related to veridical on both sides of the family: it also traces back to verus and dicere. Veridical itself is the least common of the verus words. You're most likely to encounter it in contexts dealing with psychology and philosophy.

Word  Quiz

Fill in the blanks to complete this word that is derived from Latin dicere and means "of or relating to prophecy": f _ ti _ _ c.

Merriam-Webster

http://creatingcharactersforfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/

Kwanzaa- Word of the Day - 26/12/16

Kwanzaa

noun

Pronunciation

 KWAHN-zuh

Definition

: an African-American cultural festival held from December 26 to January 1

Examples

A joyous family spirit pervaded the Allen family's Kwanzaa celebration as three generations came together for a delightful meal and a beautiful candle-lighting ceremony.

"The dynamic, multicultural Forces of Nature Dance Company celebrates Kwanzaa with dance, music, drumming and audience-engaging activities." — Jill Schensul, NorthJersey.com, 21 Nov. 2016

Did You Know?

In 1966, Maulana Karenga, a Black Studies professor at California State University at Long Beach, created a new holiday patterned after traditional African harvest festivals. He called it Kwanzaa, a name he took from a Swahili term that means "first fruits." The holiday, which takes place from December 26th to January 1st, was originally intended as a nonreligious celebration of family and social values. Each day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of seven principles: unity, self-determination, collective responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.

Test Your Vocabulary

What is the name of the candelabra used in celebrating Kwanzaa?

Merriam-Webster

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