Advertent

Word of the Day

advertent \ ad-VER-tunt \ adjective

 

1: giving attention

2: heedful

 

EXAMPLES

Marcia listened to everything I said with an advertent expression on her face, and then proceeded to tell me, point by point, why she disagreed with me.

The governor is still threatening to veto the bill, even though he is advertent to the strong public support for it.

 

DID YOU KNOW?

You may be thinking that advertent should mean "intentional." After all, inadvertent means "unintentional." Take away the negative prefix in- and you're left with that word's opposite, right? If this is your line of thought, you're not entirely off base; the two words (which both entered English in the 17th century and derive from Latin advertere, meaning "to turn the mind or attention") are in fact closely linked. But inadvertent has another, older meaning: "inattentive" or "not focusing the mind on a matter." The established meaning of advertent falls opposite that older sense of inadvertent. Does this mean that advertent never means "intentional"? Not exactly. We have seen some evidence of this use, but it's not yet well enough established to be entered in our dictionaries.

Endemic

Word of the Day

endemic \ en-DEM-ik \ adjective

 

1: characteristic of or prevalent in a particular field, area, or environment

 

2: restricted or peculiar to a locality or region

 

EXAMPLES

A recent report identifies the country as a "failed state," citing endemic corruption at all levels of government.

"Aucoin's research focuses on the development of rapid diagnostics as a resource to countries where disease is endemic and expanding."

— From an article in the Reno Gazette-Journal (Nevada), December 3, 2013

 

DID YOU KNOW?

If you translate it literally, "endemic" means "in the population." It derives from the Greek "endēmos," which joins "en," meaning "in," and "dēmos," meaning "people" or "populace." "Endemic" is often used to characterize diseases that are generally found in a particular area; malaria, for example, is said to be endemic to tropical and subtropical regions.

 

This use differs from that of the related word "epidemic" in that it indicates a more or less constant presence in a particular population or area rather than a sudden, severe outbreak within that region or group.

 

The word is also used by biologists to characterize the plant and animal species that are only found in a given area.

Syncretic

Word of the Day

Syncretic \ sin-KRET-ik \ adjective

: characterized or brought about by a combination of different forms of belief or practice

EXAMPLES

Dr. Portman practices a syncretic form of medicine, borrowing from both Eastern and Western medical traditions.

"Her CV cites disparate accomplishments as a scientist, writer, and artist—and teacher…. Moreover, her career arc represents a syncretic impulse that characterizes her general outlook on life." — Glen Martin, Forbes, November 4, 2014

DID YOU KNOW?

Syncretic has its roots in an ancient alliance. It's a descendant of the Greek word synkrētismos, meaning "federation of Cretan cities"—syn- means "together, with," and Krēt- means "Cretan." The adjective first appeared in English in the mid-19th century, and the related noun syncretism debuted over 200 years earlier. Syncretic retains the idea of coalition and appears in such contexts as "syncretic religions," "syncretic societies," and even "syncretic music," all describing things influenced by two or more styles or traditions. The word also has a specific application in linguistics, where it refers to a fusion of inflectional forms.

Oxymoron

Word of the Day

oxymoron \ ahk-sih-MOR-ahn \ noun

 

: a combination of contradictory or incongruous words; broadly
: something (such as a concept) that is made up of contradictory or incongruous elements

 

EXAMPLES

"That's an oxymoron!" said Joanne, when she heard the DJ describe the song as an "instant classic."

"A 'healthy snack' sounds like an oxymoron. The two words seem to be on opposite ends. But that does not have to be the case."
— Karen Miller, The Boston Banner, October 23, 2014

 

DID YOU KNOW?

 

The Greeks exhaustively classified the elements of rhetoric, or effective speech and writing, and gave the name oxymōron, literally "pointed foolishness," to the deliberate juxtaposing of seemingly contradictory words. The roots of oxymoron, oxys meaning "sharp" or "keen" and mōros meaning "foolish," are nearly antonyms themselves, making oxymoron nicely self-descriptive.

Oxymoron originally applied to a meaningful paradox condensed into a couple of words, as in "precious bane," "lonely crowd," or "sweet sorrow." Today, however, oxymoron can also refer to unintentional contradictions, like "a plastic glass."

Ergonomic

Word of the Day

ergonomic \ er-guh-NAH-mik \ adjective

 

1: of or relating to the science of designing and arranging things people use so that the people and things interact most efficiently and safely

 

2: designed or arranged for safe, comfortable, and efficient use

 

EXAMPLES

Clara hoped that the ergonomic arrangement of her new workstation would help reduce the daily aches in her elbow and wrist.

"Fender has been credited with design and manufacturing innovations that revolutionized the world of electric guitars and basses. The Stratocaster body introduced a curvy ergonomic design for ease of playing…."

— Ronald D. White, Los Angeles Times, November 12, 2014

 

DID YOU KNOW?

In 1969, a British publication assured the public that although the word ergonomics looked forbidding, "all it means is the science of making things fit people, instead of asking people to fit things." Ergonomic design as a field of study originated in the 19th century when a Polish author, Wojciech Jastrzebowski, wrote an article about the relation between human activity and the methods used to accomplish that activity.

In the article, written in his native Polish, Jastrzebowski coined the word ergonomji, an efficient combination of the Greek ergo-, meaning "work," and nomos, meaning "law." British scientist K. F. H. Murrell is credited with creating the English word ergonomics in 1949, applying the -nomics ending to ergo- in imitation of economics. Earliest evidence of the adjective ergonomic dates to 1954.

Réchauffé

Word of the Day

réchauffé \ ray-shoh-FAY \ noun

 

1a: something presented in a new form without change of substance

1b: rehash

 

2: a warmed-over dish of food

 

EXAMPLES

The day after the holiday, it was traditional to serve réchauffés and snacks rather than cook a full meal.

"[It] is a réchauffé, … lifted and stitched from 'The Gastronomical Me' and other books."

— Victoria Glendinning, New York Times Book Review, June 9, 1991

 

DID YOU KNOW?

We borrowed réchauffé in the early 19th century from the French; it is the past participle of their verb réchauffer, which means "to reheat." Nineteenth-century French speakers were using it figuratively to designate something that was already old hat—you might say, "warmed over."

English speakers adopted that same meaning, which is still our most common. But within decades someone had apparently decided that leftovers would seem more appealing with a French name. The notion caught on. A recipe for "Réchauffé of Beef a la Jardiniere," for example, instructs the cook to reheat "yesterday's piece of meat" in a little water with some tomatoes added, and serve it on a platter with peas and carrots and potatoes. Réchauffé shares its root with another English word, chafing dish, the name of a receptacle for keeping food warm at the table.

Incommensurable

Word of the Day

incommensurable \ in-kuh-MEN-suh-ruh-bul \ adjective

 

: not commensurable; broadly

: lacking a basis of comparison in respect to a quality normally subject to comparison

 

EXAMPLES

The two theories are incommensurable, making any attempt at comparison across disciplines ridiculous.

"Camus' own predicament as an Algerian of European descent sympathetic to both sides of the Algerian War led him to recognize a collision of incommensurable truths and embrace classical moderation."

— Steven G. Kellman, The Texas Observer, December 2013

 

DID YOU KNOW?

Commensurable means "having a common measure" or "corresponding in size, extent, amount, or degree." Its antonym incommensurable generally refers to things that are unlike and incompatible, sharing no common ground (as in the "incommensurable theories" of the first example sentence), or to things that are very disproportionate, often to the point of defying comparison ("incommensurable crimes").

Both words entered English in the 1500s and were originally used (as they still can be) for numbers that have or don't have a common divisor. They came to English by way of Middle French and Late Latin, ultimately deriving from the Latin noun mensura, meaning "measure." Mensura is also an ancestor of commensurate (meaning "coextensive" or "proportionate") and incommensurate ("disproportionate" or "insufficient"), which overlap in meaning with commensurable and incommensurable but are not exact synonyms.

Allege

Word of the Day

allege \ uh-LEJ \ verb

 

1: to assert without proof or before proving

 

2: to bring forward as a reason or excuse

 

EXAMPLES

She alleges that her roommate stole hundreds of dollars from her.

"The Chicago lawsuit … alleges a two-decade-long campaign by the industry to persuade doctors to make the use of painkillers routine for chronic pain by obscuring the drugs' risks and misrepresenting their efficacy."

— David Armstrong, Businessweek, November 14, 2014

 

DID YOU KNOW?

These days, someone "alleges" something before presenting the evidence to prove it (or perhaps without evidence at all), but the word actually derives from the Middle English verb alleggen, meaning "to submit (something) in evidence or as justification."

Alleggen, in turn, traces back to Anglo-French and probably ultimately to Latin allegare, meaning "to send as a representative" or "to offer as proof in support of a plea."

Indeed, allege once referred to the actions of someone who came forward to testify in court; this sense isn't used anymore, but it led to the development of the current "assert without proof" sense.

Mellifluous

Word of the Day

mellifluous \ muh-LIFF-luh-wus \ adjective

 

1: having a smooth rich flow

 

2: filled with something (such as honey) that sweetens

 

EXAMPLES

The young diva has a powerful, mellifluous voice that makes her album a sweet aural confection.

"Corr recorded the album in Los Angeles with producer Mitchell Froom, and the style looks back to the mellifluous pop of the Carpenters, Dusty Springfield, and Burt Bacharach, music her parents played when she was a kid in the '70s."

— Steve Klinge, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 14, 2014

 

DID YOU KNOW?

In Latin, mel means "honey" and fluere means "to flow." Those two linguistic components flow smoothly together in mellifluus (from Late Latin) and mellyfluous (from Middle English), the ancestors of mellifluous. The adjective these days typically applies to sound, as it has for centuries.

In 1671, for example, Milton wrote in Paradise Regained of the "Wisest of men; from whose mouth issu'd forth Mellifluous streams." But mellifluous can also be used of flavor, as when wine critic Eric Asimov used it to describe pinot grigio in the book Wine With Food: "Most pinot grigios give many people exactly what they want: a mellifluous, easy-to-pronounce wine that can be ordered without fear of embarrassment and that is at the least cold, refreshing, and for the most part cheap."

Greenmail

Word of the Day

greenmail \ GREEN-mail \ noun

 

1a: the practice of buying enough of a company's stock to threaten a hostile takeover and reselling it to the company at a price above market value

1b: the money paid for such stock

 

EXAMPLES

In an astonishing act of greenmail, the investor bought up all available shares of the company and leveraged his sale back to the company at triple the purchase price.

"We arrived in the middle of great turmoil, with the era of greenmail and leveraged buyouts, when both managers and corporate raiders were abusing shareholders horribly." — Nell Minow, interview in USA TODAY, October 20, 2014

 

DID YOU KNOW?

Greenmail is a recent English coinage, but its history spans a millennium. In the Anglo-Saxon historical records for 1086, we find an early use of a word that still survives in Scottish English as mail, meaning "payment" or "rent."

The 16th century saw the appearance of the compound blackmail, which was originally a tribute that freebooting

chiefs at the Scottish border exacted in exchange for immunity from pillage. In 1862, the U.S. government began printing paper money using green ink, and soon the word green came to suggest money. Finally, in the 1980s, greenmail was coined by combining green and blackmail to describe a particular type of financial piracy.

Deride

Word of the Day

deride \ dih-RYDE \ verb

 

1: to laugh at contemptuously

 

2: to subject to usually bitter or contemptuous ridicule

 

EXAMPLES

Although derided by classmates for his cocksure insistence that he would be a millionaire by the age of 25, he achieved his goal when his Internet startup went public.

"The aggressive, scowling superstar who'd deride you for your lack of taste and even tell you you're holding your phone wrong suddenly wants to invite you to dinner."

— Chris Matyszczyk, CNET, November 2, 2014

 

DID YOU KNOW?

When deride was borrowed into English in the 16th century, it came to us by combining the prefix de- with ridēre, a Latin verb meaning "to laugh." Ridēre is also the ancestor of the English words risible ("laughable") and ridiculous. Of course, English has a number of words meaning "to laugh at unkindly"; in addition to deride, we have ridicule, mock, and taunt.

Deride suggests laughter loaded with contemptuousness or bitterness, whereas ridicule implies a deliberate often malicious belittling ("consistently ridiculed everything she said"). Mock implies scorn often ironically expressed by mimicry or sham deference ("mocking the speaker's impassioned tones"). Taunt suggests jeeringly provoking insult or challenge ("hometown fans taunted the visiting team").

Melancholia

Word of the Day

melancholia \ mel-un-KOH-lee-uh \ noun

 

1: a mental condition and especially a manic-depressive condition characterized by extreme depression, bodily complaints, and often hallucinations and delusions;

 

2: a feeling of sadness and depression, broadly

 

EXAMPLES

"As the debates about the future shape of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), Fifth Edition, continue, a review of one of the liveliest arguments, about melancholia as a diagnostic category in its own right, appears timely."

— From an article by Paul Grof in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, April 2013

"While some lyrics in Brian Wilson's handwriting are drenched in melancholia, most convey the band's signature, sunny optimism."

— From an article in The Daily Home (Talladega, Alabama), April 20, 2013

 

DID YOU KNOW?

Today's word traces back to Greek "melan " ("black, dark") and "cholē" ("bile"). Medical practitioners once adhered to the system of humors—bodily fluids that included black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm.
An imbalance of these humors was thought to lead to disorders of the mind and body. One suffering from an excess of black bile (believed to be secreted by the kidneys or spleen) could become sullen and unsociable - liable to anger, irritability, brooding, and depression.
Today, doctors no longer ascribe physical and mental disorders to the disruption of the four humors (thank goodness!), but the word "melancholia" is still used in psychiatry (it is identified as a "subtype" of clinical depression in the Diagnositc and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and as a general term for despondency.

 

Haggard

Word of the Day

haggard \ HAG-urd \ adjective

 

1a : wild in appearance

1b : having a worn or emaciated appearance : gaunt

 

EXAMPLES

The mountain climbers were hungry and haggard but were otherwise in good shape after having been stranded on the mountain for more than a week.

"[Dorothea] Lange's 1936 photographs of California migrant worker Florence Owens Thompson and her children capture the haggard desperation of Thompson and her brood during the Great Depression…."

— Chuck Sudo, Chicagoist, November 7, 2014

 

DID YOU KNOW?

Haggard comes from falconry, the sport of hunting with a trained bird of prey. The birds used in falconry were not bred in captivity until very recently. Traditionally, falconers trained wild birds that were either taken from the nest when quite young or trapped as adults.
A bird trapped as an adult is termed a haggard, from the Middle French hagard. Such a bird is notoriously wild and difficult to train, and it wasn't long before the falconry sense of haggard was being applied in an extended way to a "wild" and intractable person.
Next, the word came to express the way the human face looks when a person is exhausted, anxious, or terrified. Today, the most common meaning of haggard is "gaunt" or "worn."

 

Shopaholic

Word of the Day

shopaholic \ shah-puh-HAH-lik \ noun

 

: one who is extremely or excessively fond of shopping

 

EXAMPLES

Susie is such a shopaholic that her friends refuse to set foot in a mall with her when there are big sales.

"Uncle Sam is a shopaholic, the world's most prolific buyer of goods and services. Every year, the federal government spends between $350 billion and $500 billion on procurement."
— editorial, The Times-Tribune (Scranton, Pennsylvania), September 20, 2014

 

DID YOU KNOW?

The word alcoholic refers to someone who has a serious disorder. Addictive shopping can be serious, too, but the word shopaholic is most often used playfully to suggest mere excess rather than true addiction. Shopaholic first appeared in print in 1983. It was formed on the model of alcoholic, which was itself created many years earlier by combining alcohol with -ic, meaning "of or relating to."

People evidently saw a parallel between someone addicted to alcohol and someone "addicted" to shopping. This is not the first time alcoholic has spawned a spinoff word—shopaholic was preceded by workaholic and chocoholic, both of which first turned up in 1968.

Hoopla

Word of the Day

hoopla \ HOO-plah \ noun

 

1a: excited commotion

1b: to-do

 

2: exaggerated or sensational promotion or publicity

 

EXAMPLESIn my opinion, the movie didn't live up to the hoopla surrounding it.

"There was no formal introduction, no hoopla as the leading scorer in Maryland men's basketball history took a seat behind the bench for the first time in his new role."
— From an article by Don Markus in The Baltimore Sun, November 29, 2013

 

DID YOU KNOW?

In French, the interjection "houp-là" is used roughly the same way as English's "upsy-daisy" or "whoops-a-daisy," as one might say when picking up a child. (This usage can be found in English, too, in such works as Booth Tarkington's The Magnificent Ambersons and James Joyce’s Ulysses.) In the early 20th century, the word, playing on the syllable "hoop," gave its name to a ring-toss game played at carnivals. But before that, "hoopla" was used in American English to refer to a kind of bustling commotion, and later, as a term for sensationalist hype.

Pelagic

Word of the Day

pelagic \ puh-LAJ-ik \ adjective

 

: of, relating to, or living or occurring in the open sea

: oceanic

 

EXAMPLES

She is studying to become a marine biologist specializing in pelagic plant life.

"During this time we also have the seasonal migration of pelagic fish from the northern Gulf waters to the Key West area."

— Sam O'Briant, The News-Press (Fort Myers, Florida), September 21, 2014

 

DID YOU KNOW?

Pelagic comes to us from Greek, via Latin. The Greek word pelagikos became pelagicus in Latin and then pelagic in English. (Pelagikos is derived from pelagos, the Greek word for the sea—it is also a source of archipelago—plus the adjectival suffix -ikos.)

Pelagic first showed up in dictionaries in 1656; a definition from that time says that Pelagick (as it was then spelled) meant "of the Sea, or that liveth in the Sea."

Over 350 years later, writers are still using pelagic with the same meaning, albeit less frequently than its more familiar synonym oceanic.

Saponaceous

Word of the Day

saponaceous \ sap-uh-NAY-shus \ adjective

 

: resembling or having the qualities of soap

 

EXAMPLES

"When boiled or bruised in water, the leaves turn saponaceous, and the resulting lather cuts through grease."

— From an article in Mountain Xpress (Asheville, North Carolina), March 16, 2005 - March 22, 2005

"Wilberforce's smooth and slippery manner had led a contemporary to call him saponaceous, after the adjective from soap."

— From an award acceptance speech by British writer Philip Pulman, printed in The Humanist, July 1, 2008

 

DID YOU KNOW?

"Saponaceous" is a New Latin borrowing by scientists that is based on "sapo," the Latin word for "soap." It describes natural substances, like aloe gel or some plant roots, used in making soap or having the properties of soap. It also describes things that feel or appear soapy—for example, some shales and clays, mica, and certain chemical preparations.

In the 19th century, "saponaceous" began to be used for people having a slippery, evasive, or elusive character. One famous example is the elocutionist Bishop Wilberforce mentioned in our second example sentence, whom British politician Benjamin Disraeli described as "unctuous, oleaginous, saponaceous."

In The Devil's Dictionary, author Ambrose Bierce uses Disraeli's quote to illustrate the word "oleaginous," noting that "the good prelate was ever afterward known as Soapy Sam."

Mea Culpa

Word of the Day

mea culpa \ may-uh-KOOL-puh \ noun

: a formal acknowledgment of personal fault or error

EXAMPLES

The mayor's public mea culpa didn't satisfy his critics.

"Here's my mea culpa: I admit I'm carrying around 20 pounds I could do without and also don't exercise enough."

— From an article by Eli Amdur in the Patriot News (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), November 10, 2013

DID YOU KNOW?

"Mea culpa," which means "through my fault" in Latin, comes from a prayer of confession in the Catholic Church. Said by itself, it's an exclamation of apology or remorse that is used to mean "It was my fault" or "I apologize."

"Mea culpa" is also a noun, however. A newspaper might issue a mea culpa for printing inaccurate information, or a politician might give a speech making mea culpas for past wrongdoings.

"Mea culpa" is one of many English terms that derive from the Latin "culpa," meaning "guilt." Some other examples are "culpable" ("meriting condemnation or blame especially as wrong or harmful") and "culprit" ("one guilty of a crime or a fault").

Weal

Word of the Day

weal \ WEEL \ noun

: a sound, healthy, or prosperous state

: well-being

EXAMPLES

The president spoke of devotion to the common weal and the hope of creating a better country.

"'Higher healthcare costs'? No one could be for that, so the campaign [against it] looks like a flag-carrier for the public weal."

— Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, October 10, 2014

DID YOU KNOW?

Weal is most often used in contexts referring to the general good. One reads, for example, of the "public weal" or the "common weal." The latter of these led to the formation of the noun commonweal, a word that once referred to an organized political entity, such as a nation or state, but today usually means "the general welfare."

The word commonwealth shares these meanings, but its situation is reversed; the "political entity" sense of commonwealth is still current, whereas the "general welfare" sense has become archaic. At one time, weal and wealth were also synonyms; both meant "riches" ("all his worldly weal") and "well-being." Both words stem from wela, the Old English word for "well-being," and are closely related to the Old English word for "well."

Officious

Word of the Day

officious \ uh-FISH-us \ adjective

1a: volunteering one's services where they are neither asked nor needed

1b: meddlesome

 

2: informal, unofficial

EXAMPLES

Staff members view the new consultant as an officious individual offering unwanted feedback, but she is simply doing her job.

"During an interview this week with Morris News, Saxby, a Republican, said he is frustrated by the delay but attributes it more to officious federal bureaucrats than to partisan gamesmanship."

— Carla Caldwell, Atlanta Business Chronicle, April 2, 2014

DID YOU KNOW?

Don't mistake officious for a rare synonym of official. Both words stem from the Latin noun officium (meaning "service" or "office"), but they have very different meanings. When the suffix -osus ("full of") was added to officium, Latin officiosus came into being, meaning "eager to serve, help, or perform a duty." When this adjective was borrowed into English in the 16th century as officious, it carried the same meaning. Early in the 17th century, however, officious began to develop a negative sense describing a person who offers unwanted help. This pejorative sense has driven out the original "eager to help" sense to become the predominant meaning of the word in modern English. Officious can also mean "of an informal or unauthorized nature," but that sense isn't especially common.

Leitmotif

Word of the Day

leitmotif \ LYTE-moh-teef \ noun

1: a melodic phrase or figure that accompanies the reappearance of an idea, person, or situation in a music drama

 

2: a dominant recurring theme

EXAMPLES

The overcoming of obstacles and a love of theater are the two leitmotifs of her autobiography.

"'Collaboration' is the author's supporting theme, and he weaves it in throughout his anecdotes and character studies. Approached lazily, this kind of leitmotif would be more irritating than illuminating, but Isaacson fully commits."

— James Norton, The Christian Science Monitor, October 13, 2014

DID YOU KNOW?

The English word leitmotif (or leitmotiv, as it is also spelled) comes from the German Leitmotiv, meaning "leading motive" and formed from leiten ("to lead") and Motiv ("motive"). In its original sense, the word applies to opera music and was first used by writers interpreting the works of composer Richard Wagner, who was famous for associating a melody with a character or important dramatic element.

Leitmotif is still commonly used with reference to music and musical drama but is now also used more broadly to refer to any recurring theme in the arts or in everyday life.

Rife

Word of the Day

rife \ RYFE \ adjective

1: prevalent especially to an increasing degree

 

2: abundant, common

 

3a: copiously supplied

3b: abounding

EXAMPLES

After the newspaper's managing editor was fired, speculation was rife about who would replace him.

"In the battle over Amendment 2, Drug Free Florida has decried the medical marijuana ballot initiative as being rife with loopholes."

— Dan Sweeney, The Sun-Sentinel (South Florida), October 15, 2014

DID YOU KNOW?

English is rife with words that have Germanic connections, many of which have been handed down to us from Old English. Rife is one of those words. Not a whole lot has changed with rife in its 900-year history. We continue to use the word, as we have since the 12th century, for negative things, especially those that are widespread or prevalent. Typical examples are "shoplifting was rife" or "the city was rife with greed and corruption." Rumors and speculation are also frequently described as "rife," as well. But rife can also be appropriately used, as it has been for hundreds of years, for good or neutral things. For example, you might speak of "the summer garden, rife with scents."

Devise

Word of the Day

devise \ dih-VYZE \ verb

1a : to form in the mind by new combinations or applications of ideas or principles : invent

1b : to plan to obtain or bring about : plot

 

2: to give (real estate) by will

EXAMPLES

The author's childhood home was devised to the city and the Historical Commission will turn it into a museum devoted to her life.

"Students at the Ilead Charter School devised three ways to bash pumpkins into pieces. One method used rubber surgical tubing to create an Angry Birds-style slingshot to propel the squash through the air. A more direct device crushed the pumpkins with a weight and a bowling ball."

— Kevin Lillard, Juneau County Star-Times (Wisconsin), October 15, 2014

DID YOU KNOW?

There's something inventive about devise, a word that stems from Latin dividere, meaning "to divide." By the time devise appeared in English in the 1200s, its Anglo-French forebear deviser had accumulated an array of senses, including "to divide," "distribute," "arrange," "array," "digest," "order," "plan," "invent," "contrive," and "assign by will."

English adopted most of these and added some new senses over the course of time: "to imagine," "guess," "pretend," and "describe." In modern use, we've disposed of a lot of the old meanings, but we kept the one that applies to wills.

Devise traditionally referred to the transfer of real property (land), and bequeath to personal property; these days, however, devise is often recognized as applying generally to all the property in a person's estate.

Threnody

Word of the Day

threnody \ THREN-uh-dee \ noun

: a song of lamentation for the dead

: elegy

EXAMPLES

Christina wrote the poem as a threnody for her grandmother, who had died the previous spring.

"Ian Hobson will lead the Sinfonia strings in Strauss' 'Metamorphosen,' his threnody on the destruction of German musical monuments at the end of World War II."

— John Frayne, The News-Gazette (Champaign, Illinois), September 11, 2014

DID YOU KNOW?

Threnody encompasses all genres. There are great threnodies in prose (such as the lines from Charles Dickens’ Bleak House upon the death of Little Jo: "Dead, your Majesty. Dead, my lords and gentlemen. Dead…."), in poetry (as in W. H. Auden’s "Funeral Blues": "The stars are not wanted now: put out every one, / Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun…."), and in music (Giovanni Pergolesi’s "Stabat Mater," for one).

Threnody, which we borrowed from the Greek word thrēnōidia (from thrēnos, the word for "dirge"), has survived in English since the early 1600s. Melody, tragedy, and comedy are related to threnody through the Greek root that forms their ending—aeidein, which means "to sing."

Prototype

Word of the Day

prototype \ PROH-tuh-type \ noun

1a: an original model on which something is patterned
1b: archetype

 

2: an individual that exhibits the essential features of a later type

 

3: a standard or typical example

 

4: a first full-scale and usually functional form of a new type or design of a construction (such as an airplane)

EXAMPLES

It's not clear at this point how the device will differ from its prototype.

"Someone seems to have gotten his or her hands on an iPhone 6 prototype and is now selling it on eBay for a handsome sum—bidding had reached $83,300 at the time of this writing."

— Lauren Walker, Newsweek, October 6, 2014

DID YOU KNOW?

The prefix prot-, or proto-, comes from Greek and has the basic meaning "first in time" or "first formed." A prototype is someone or something that serves as a model or inspiration for those that come later. A successful fund-raising campaign can serve as a prototype for future campaigns.

The legendary Robin Hood, the "prototypical" kindhearted and honorable outlaw, has been the inspiration for countless other romantic heroes. And for over a century, Vincent van Gogh has been the prototype of the brilliant, tortured artist who is unappreciated in his own time.

Chouse

Word of the Day

chouse \ CHOWSS \ verb

: cheat, trick

EXAMPLES

In Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities, the miserable Mr. Cruncher fumes, "If I ain't … been choused this last week into as bad luck as ever a poor devil of a honest tradesman met with!"

"The 18th fairway Saturday afternoon bore a scene only accessible in a gentrified sport such as golf; Polson's Jaylin Kenney bookended by Erin Tabish and Katie Fyall of Whitefish, all three girls calm and cordial as could be, each likely secretly hoping to chouse a collapse out of the other."

— Mark Robertson, Lake County Leader & Advertiser (Polson, Montana), October 9, 2013

DID YOU KNOW?

"You shall chouse him of Horses, Cloaths, and Mony," wrote John Dryden in his 1663 play Wild Gallant. Dryden was one of the first English writers to use chouse, but he wasn't the last. That term, which may derive from a Turkish word meaning "doorkeeper" or "messenger," has a rich literary past, appearing in works by Samuel Pepys, Henry Fielding, Sir Walter Scott, and Charles Dickens, among others, but its use dropped off in the 20th century.

In fact, English speakers of today may be more familiar with another chouse, a verb used in the American West to mean "to drive or herd roughly." In spite of their identical spellings, though, the two chouse homographs are not related (and the origin of the latter is a source of some speculation).

Trenchant

Word of the Day

trenchant \ TREN-chunt \ adjective

1:keen, sharp

 

2: vigorously effective and articulate; also : caustic

 

3a: sharply perceptive : penetrating

3b : clear-cut, distinct

EXAMPLES

The daily news satire show not only offers a healthy dose of laughs but also trenchant commentary on the current events of the day.

"Nowhere was hayseed dialect better used to deliver trenchant truths than in 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.' Through the voice of an uneducated river-town boy, Mark Twain skewered pretense, pride, and the shameful inhumanity of slavery and racism."

— John Yemma, Christian Science Monitor, October 5, 2014

DID YOU KNOW?

The word trenchant comes from the Anglo-French verb trencher, meaning "to cut," and may ultimately derive from the Vulgar Latin trinicare, meaning "to cut in three." Hence, a trenchant sword is one with a keen edge; a trenchant remark is one that cuts deep; and a trenchant observation is one that cuts to the heart of the matter. Relatives of trenchant in English include the noun trench ("a long ditch cut into the ground") and the verb retrench ("to cut down or pare away" or "to cut down expenses").

Demagogue

Word of the Day

demagogue \ DEM-uh-gahg \ noun

: a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power

EXAMPLES

The nation's voters ousted their incumbent president for a demagogue who persuasively capitalized on fears of another recession.

"Messrs. Cameron, Miliband and Clegg were personally far less popular in Scotland than the fluent demagogue Mr. Salmond. Did this older, gnarlier Scot ignite feelings of envy and inadequacy in the English trio's patrician breasts?"

— Quentin Letts, Wall Street Journal, September 19, 2014

DID YOU KNOW?

When the ancient Greeks used dēmagōgos (from dēmos, meaning "people," and agein, "to lead") they meant someone good—a leader who used outstanding oratorical skills to further the interests of the common people. Mid-17th-century writers such as Thomas Hobbes and John Dryden—and, later, Jonathan Swift—employed the English word that way. But, at the same time, the word took a negative turn, coming to suggest one who uses powers of persuasion to sway and mislead. "A plausible, insignificant word, in the mouth of an expert demagogue, is a dangerous and a dreadful weapon," declared Robert South, known for his sermons, in 1716.

Fusty

Word of the Day

fusty \ FUSS-tee \ adjective

1a: saturated with dust and stale odors
1b: musty

 

2: rigidly old-fashioned or reactionary

EXAMPLES

We opened the windows to air out the fusty room.

"Unlike so many fusty historical monuments, her statue appears alive, with the writer’s cloak blowing in the wind, a huge raven flying in his path and a trail of pages … spilling from his briefcase."

— James Sullivan, Boston Globe, September 30, 2014

DID YOU KNOW?

Fusty probably derives from the Middle English word foist, meaning "wine cask," which in turn traces to the Medieval Latin word fustis, meaning "tree trunk" or "wood." So how did fusty end up meaning "old-fashioned"?

Originally, it described wine that had gotten stale from sitting in the cask for too long; fusty literally meant that the wine had the "taste of the cask." Eventually any stale food, especially damp or moldy food, was called "fusty." Those damp and moldy connotations were later applied to musty places, and later still to anything that had lost its freshness and interest—that is, to anything old-fashioned.

Aducce

Word of the Day

adduce \ uh-DOOSS \ verb

: to offer as example, reason, or proof in discussion or analysis

EXAMPLES

"The arguments she had adduced rang true."

— Agatha Christie, The Secret Adversary, 1922

"Morris asserts that productive war makes governments, which in turn ensure peace and prosperity. He adduces the Roman Empire as his prime example."

— Alan Cate, Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), April 27, 2014

DID YOU KNOW?

We won't lead you astray over the history of adduce; it is one of a plethora of familiar words that trace to the Latin root ducere, which means "to lead." Perhaps we can induce you to deduce a few other ducere offspring if we offer a few hints about them. One is a synonym of kidnap, one's a title for a British royal, and one's another word for decrease. Give up? They are abduct, duke, and reduce, respectively. There are also many others, including induce, which means "to persuade" or "to bring about."

Collywobbles

Word of the Day

collywobbles \ KAH-lee-wah-bulz \ noun

: pain in the abdomen and especially in the stomach
: bellyache

EXAMPLES

"It's no wonder you've got the collywobbles," said Ruth to her niece, "given the amount of Halloween candy you ate last night!"

"But even the hint of closing this cherished window into Detroit's past gives loyal museumgoers the collywobbles."

— Joy Hakanson Colby, The Detroit News, December 30, 2005

DID YOU KNOW?

We don't know who first clutched his or her tummy and called the affliction "collywobbles," but we do know the word's earliest print appearance dates from around 1823. We also know that the word probably came about through a process called "folk etymology." In that process, unusual words are transformed to make them look or sound like other, more familiar words.

Collywobbles is believed to be a friendlier-sounding transformation of cholera morbus (the New Latin term for the disease cholera) that was influenced by the words colic and wobble.

Quixotic

Word of the Day

quixotic \ kwik-SAH-tik \ adjective

1: foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals

 

2: capricious, unpredictable

EXAMPLES

Pauline characterized her Halloween decorating plans as ambitious, but she secretly feared that "quixotic" was a more apt descriptor.

"David Smith has chased for at least 15 years what seemed a quixotic challenge—finding a way to harness the energy remaining in discarded batteries which could represent at least 50 percent of their power capacity."

— Richard Craver, Winston-Salem Journal (North Carolina), September 28, 2014

DID YOU KNOW?

If you guessed that quixotic has something to do with Don Quixote, you're absolutely right. The hero of the 17th-century Spanish novel El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (by Miguel de Cervantes) didn't change the world by tilting at windmills, but he did leave a linguistic legacy in English. The adjective quixotic is based on his name and has been used to describe unrealistic idealists since at least the early 18th century. The novel has given English other words as well. Dulcinea, the name of Quixote's beloved, has come to mean "mistress" or "sweetheart," and rosinante, which is sometimes used to refer to an old, broken-down horse, comes from the name of the hero's less-than-gallant steed, Rocinante