Vindicate

WORD OF THE DAY

vindicate / verb / VIN-duh-kayt

Definition
1a: to free from allegation or blame
1b: confirm, substantiate
1c: to provide justification or defense for
1d: justify
1e: to protect from attack or encroachment
1f: defend
2: avenge
3: to maintain a right to
4 (obsolete): to set free or deliver

Examples
“Describing Webb Pierce’s ‘There Stands the Glass’ (1953), [Bob] Dylan extrapolates the sad song into something remorselessly bleak: The song’s narrator ‘must justify and vindicate his entire being, he’s been betrayed by politicians back home, forsaken and double crossed.’”
— Elizabeth Nelson, The Washington Post, 31 Oct. 2022

Several people certainly have, and Aiden has countless examples that vindicate the project’s value in his eyes.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 29 Dec. 2011

Did You Know?
It’s hard not to marvel at the rich history of vindicate.
Vindicate, which has been used in English since at least the mid-16th century, comes from a form of the Latin verb vindicare, meaning “to set free, avenge, or lay claim to.”
Vindicare, in turn, comes from vindex, a noun meaning “claimant” or “avenger.”
Truly, vindex has proven to be an incredible hulk of a word progenitor over the centuries.
Other descendants of this “avenger” assembled in English include avenge itself, revenge, vengeance, vendetta, and vindictive.

Repartee

WORD OF THE DAY

repartee / noun / rep-er-TEE

Definition
1a: a quick and witty reply
1b: a succession or interchange of clever retorts
1c: amusing and usually light sparring with words
2a: adroitness and cleverness in reply
2b: skill in repartee

Examples
“The language of the play moves between the vernacular and the elevated, informed by the repartee of TV sitcoms as well as by the poetry of William Blake.”
— Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 19 June 2022

Her cognition began to fail, an intellectual prison for a woman so invigorated by repartee and discussion.
—Hillary Kelly, The New Republic, 4 Jan. 2023

Did You Know?
Dorothy Parker was known for her repartee. Upon hearing that former president Calvin Coolidge had died, the poet, short-story writer, screenwriter, and critic—famous for her acerbic wit—replied, “How can they tell?”
 The taciturn Coolidge, aka “Silent Cal,” obviously didn’t have a reputation for being the life of the party, but he could be counted on for the occasional bon mot, as when a Washington, D.C., hostess told him, “You must talk to me, Mr. President. I made a bet today that I could get more than two words out of you,” and he replied, “You lose.”
Repartee, our word for a quick, sharp reply (and for skill with such replies) comes from the French repartie, of the same meaning.
Repartie itself is formed from the French verb repartir, meaning “to retort.”

Ignis fatuus

WORD OF THE DAY

ignis fatuus / noun / IG-nis FATCH-uh-wus

Definition
1: a light that sometimes appears in the night over marshy ground and is often attributable to the combustion of gas from decomposed organic matter
2: a deceptive goal or hope

Examples
"The flickering lights that led superstitious voyagers astray are not mere legends. So-called ignis fatuus, or 'foolish fire,' is a real phenomenon: a ball of flame that hovers above a marsh’s dark, still water for a few minutes before dissipating into the night."
— Benji Jones, Popular Science, 31 Oct. 2018

The story also helped explain ignis fatuus, a natural phenomenon that occurs in marshlands and bogs—such as those in Ireland’s countryside—producing flickering lights as gases from decomposing organic matter combust.
—National Geographic, 27 Oct. 2020

Did You Know?
Ignis fatuus is a Latin term meaning, literally, "foolish fire."
Other names for this light are jack-o'-lantern and will-o'-the-wisp—both of which are connected to folklore about mysterious men, Jack and Will, who carry a lantern or a wisp of light at night.
A Scottish name for ignis fatuus is spunkie, from spunk, meaning "spark" or "a small fire."
It has also been told that ignes fatui (the Latin plural form) are roaming souls.
No doubt these stories spooked listeners by candlelight, but in time, advancements in science not only gave us electricity to dispel the darkness but proved ignis fatuus to be a visible exhalation of gas from the ground, which is rarely seen today.