apropos - Word of the Day - 30/09/17

apropos

preposition

Pronunciation

ap-ruh-POH PrevNext
 

Definition

: with regard to (something) : concerning

Examples

Sean interrupted our conversation about politics and, apropos of nothing, asked who we thought would win the basketball game.

"Around that time I came across a felicitous quote by Mark Twain, which said, apropos the difficulty of writing about childhood, that you have to be old to write young." — Andrew Winer, The Color Midnight Made, 2002

Did You Know?

English speakers borrowed apropos from the French phrase à propos, literally "to the purpose." Since it first appeared in the 17th century, apropos has been used as an adverb, adjective, noun, and preposition. Left alone, the word probably wouldn't have gotten much attention, but in 1926 noted language expert H. W. Fowler declared of apropos "that it is better always to use of rather than to after it…." While this prescription seems to be based on the use of the preposition de ("of") in the French construction à propos de, rather than the actual usage history of apropos in English, some language commentators take Fowler's recommendation to be virtually a commandment. But others have noted that apropos is sometimes used by itself in professionally edited prose, or, more rarely, is followed by to.

Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a preposition that is synonymous with apropos: NNTAE.

Merriam-Webster

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ensconce - Word of the Day - 29/09/17

ensconce

verb

Pronunciation

 in-SKAHNSS

 Definition

1 : to place or hide securely : conceal
2 : to establish or settle firmly, comfortably, or snugly

Examples

Though kept—and used—for years in a private home, the unusual 17th-century porcelain bowl is now safely ensconced behind glass in a local museum.

"Using their strong back legs, female loggerheads dig until a pit is created that is deep enough to safely ensconce their eggs." — The Press and Standard (Walterboro, South Carolina), 20 July 2016

Did You Know?

You might think of a sconce as a type of candleholder or lamp, but the word can also refer to a defensive fortification, usually one made of earth. Originally, then, a person who was ensconced was enclosed in or concealed by such a structure, out of harm's way. One of the earliest writers to apply the verb ensconce with the general sense of "hide" was William Shakespeare. In The Merry Wives of Windsor, the character Falstaff, hoping to avoid detection when he is surprised during an amorous moment with Mrs. Ford, says "She shall not see me; I will ensconce me behind the arras." (An arras is a tapestry or wall hanging.)

Name That Synonym

What 6-letter synonym of ensconce begins with "n" and can also mean "to press closely and affectionately"?

Merriam-Webster


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pace - Word of the Day - 28/09/17

pace

preposition

Pronunciation

PAY-see

Definition

: contrary to the opinion of — usually used as an expression of deference to someone's contrary opinion

Examples

Pace the editorialist, there are in fact multiple solutions to these kinds of problems.

"The public museums, great and small, that are one of America's educational glories house collections expensively assembled by rich men and (pace Isabella Gardner and Baltimore's Cone sisters) women with lofty but not selfless motives." — John Updike, The New York Review of Books, 5 Oct. 2006

Did You Know?

Though used in English since the 19th century, the preposition pace has yet to shed its Latin mantle, and for that reason it's most at home in formal writing or in contexts in which one is playing at formality. The Latin word pace is a form of pax, meaning "peace" or "permission," and when used sincerely the word does indeed suggest a desire for both. This Latin borrowing is unrelated to the more common noun pace (as in "keeping pace") and its related verb ("pacing the room"); these also come from Latin, but from the word pandere, meaning "to spread."

Test Your Memory

What former Word of the Day means "to hold spellbound" and in the past also meant "to hold in slavery"?

Merriam-Webster

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

disparate - Word of the Day - 27/09/17

disparate

adjective

Pronunciation

 DISS-puh-rut

Definition

1 : containing or made up of fundamentally different and often incongruous elements
2 : markedly distinct in quality or character

Examples

The proposed law has the support of a disparate collection of interest groups.

"Released at San Diego's Comic-Con, the first full-length trailer for the CBS All Access series shows off all the Star Trek hallmarks, sweet ships, scary aliens, and the very human struggle that comes from disparate cultures coming together in unsure times." — Tim Surette, TV Guide, 23 July 2017

Did You Know?

Have you ever tried to sort differing objects into separate categories? If so, you're well prepared to understand the origins of disparate. The word, which first appeared in English in the 16th century, derives from disparatus, the past participle of the Latin verb disparare, meaning "to separate." Disparare, in turn, comes from parare, a verb meaning "to prepare." Other descendants of parare in English include both separate and prepare, as well as repair, apparatus, and even vituperate ("to criticize harshly and usually publicly"). Disparate also functions as a noun. The noun, which is rare and usually used in the plural, means "one of two or more things so unequal or unlike that they cannot be compared with each other," as in "The yoking of disparates, the old and the new, continues to be a [poet Anne] Carson strategy" (Daisy Fried, The New York Times, 21 Apr. 2013).

Quiz

What verb derived from Latin parare can mean "to ward off a weapon or blow" or "to evade"?

Merriam-Webster

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broadside- Word of the Day - 26/09/17

broadside

noun

Pronunciation

BRAWD-syde

Definition

1 a : a sizable sheet of paper printed on one side; also : a sheet of paper printed on one or both sides and folded (such as for mailing)
   b : something (such as a ballad) printed on a broadside
2 : all the guns on one side of a ship; also : their simultaneous discharge
3 : a volley of abuse or denunciation : a strongly worded attack
4 : a broad or unbroken surface

Examples

"When the Declaration of Independence was ratified, Congress ordered that it be read throughout the colonies. The first broadside was printed in Philadelphia by John Dunlap on the evening of July 4, 1776." — The Salem (Massachusetts) News, 29 Mar. 2016

"In response, Kobach said Hensley's broadside was larded with misrepresentations certain to be distasteful to Kansans hungry for decency in politics." — Tim Carpenter, The Topeka (Kansas) Capital-Journal, 16 Aug. 2017

Did You Know?

What do sheets of printed paper and a ship's artillery have in common? Not a whole lot besides their broadsides. The printing and naval senses of broadside arose independently of one another. Printed broadsides may have first been decrees intended for public posting, so they were necessarily printed on one side of large sheets of paper. Soon even matters printed on one side of smallish sheets were called broadsides—advertisements, for example, or the so-called "broadside ballads," popular ditties that people stuck on the wall to sing from. In the nautical sense, broadside was originally the entire side of a ship above the water—which is where the guns were placed. The further use of broadside to refer to firing of the guns eventually led to the figurative "volley of abuse" sense.

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of broadside referring to a strongly worded attack: c _ _ no _ _ de.

Merriam-Webster

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anathematise - Word of the Day - 25/09/17

anathematise

verb

Pronunciation

 uh-NATH-uh-muh-tyze

Definition

: curse, denounce

Examples

"A great deal has happened in a very short time.… Feminist reforms in the home and workplace … have gained renewed momentum. Youth culture has anathematized bullying and accorded pride of place to nerd culture." — Jonathan Chait, The New York Magazine, 29 June 2015

"Its reception of [George] Orwell serves as a fascinating case study of Commonweal's history and editorial culture. The magazine's editors and contributors neither anathematized Orwell nor sprinkled him with holy water. Instead they simply gave him the respect they thought he deserved…." — John Rodden and John Rossi, Commonweal, 23 Sept. 2016

Did You Know?

When 16th-century English speakers needed a verb meaning "to condemn by anathema" (that is, by an official curse from church authority), anathematize proved to be just the right word. But anathematize didn't originate in English as a combination of the noun anathema and the suffix -ize. Rather, our verb is based on forebears in Late Latin (anathematizare) and Greek (anathematizein). Anathematize can still indicate solemn, formal condemnation, but today it can also have milder applications. The same is true of anathema, which now often means simply "a vigorous denunciation," or more frequently, "something or someone intensely disliked or loathed."

Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of anathematize meaning "to curse": LDIATMCE.

Merriam-Webster

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legerity - Word of the Day - 24/09/17

legerity

noun

Pronunciation

 luh-JAIR-uh-tee

Definition

: alert facile quickness of mind or body

Examples

The novel's less than compelling plot is counterbalanced by the narrator's wit and legerity.

"There are brand new vehicles, brand new tracks and brand new ways to get gamers to exercise the kind of hand-digit legerity that other games don't like to employ because it might make the casual audience actually have to work for a victory." — William Usher, CinemaBlend.com, 16 May 2014

Did You Know?

When legerity first appeared in English in the 1500s, it drew significantly upon the concept of being "light on one's feet," and appropriately so. It is derived from the Middle and Old French legereté ("lightness"), which was formed from the Old French adjective leger ("light in weight"). Leger comes from an assumed Vulgar Latin adjective, leviarius, a descendent of the older Latin levis ("having little weight"). These days, legerity can describe a nimbleness of mind as well as of the feet. A cousin of legerity in English is legerdemain, meaning "sleight of hand" or "a display of skill or adroitness." Legerdemain comes from the French phrase leger de main, meaning "light of hand."

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of legerity meaning "quickness of mind": d _ _ t _ _ i _ y.

Merriam-Webster

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