Paragon

WORD OF THE DAY

 

PARAGON \ PAIR-uh-gahn \ noun

 

Definition

: a model of excellence or perfection

 

Examples

"What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculties! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals!" — William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1600-1601

"Looking at a broad array of American economic indicators, it's hard to see what investors are afraid of. The United States is a paragon of growth … especially the job market."
— Conrad de Aenlle, The New York Times, 9 Oct. 2015

 

Did You Know?

Paragon derives from the Old Italian word paragone, which literally means "touchstone." A touchstone is a black stone that was formerly used to judge the purity of gold or silver. The metal was rubbed on the stone and the color of the streak it left indicated its quality.

In modern English, both touchstone and paragon have come to signify a standard against which something should be judged. Ultimately, paragon comes from the Greek parakonan, meaning "to sharpen," from the prefix para- ("alongside of") and akonē, meaning "whetstone."

Emeritus

WORD OF THE DAY

 

EMERITUS \ ih-MEH-ruh-tus \ adjective

 

Definition

1: holding after retirement an honorary title corresponding to that held last during active service

 

2: retired from an office or position — converted to emeriti after a plural

 

Examples

A letter decrying cuts in staffing at the university was signed by 42 professors emeriti.

"Additional members were named at the annual meeting to the 2015-16 board of directors, which now includes 22 members and four directors emeriti."
— Jenn Smith, The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts), 28 Sept. 2015

 

Did You Know?

The adjective emeritus is unusual in two ways: it's frequently used postpositively (that is, after the noun it modifies), and it has a plural form—emeriti—when it modifies a plural noun in its second sense.

If you've surmised from these qualities that the word is Latin in origin, you are correct. Emeritus, which is the Latin past participle of the verb emereri, meaning "to serve out one's term," was originally used to describe soldiers who had completed their duty. (Emereri is from the prefix e-, meaning "out," and merēre, meaning "to earn, deserve, or serve"—also the source of our English word merit.)

By the beginning of the early 18th century, English speakers were using emeritus as an adjective to refer to professors who had retired from office. The word eventually became applied to other professions where a retired member may continue to hold a title in an honorary capacity

Colligate

WORD OF THE DAY

 

COLLIGATE \ KAH-luh-gayt \ verb

 

Definition

1: to bind, unite, or group together

 

2: to subsume (isolated facts) under a general concept

 

3: to be or become a member of a group or unit

 

Examples

"For instance, many words colligate with the word 'the,' which is a grammatical marker of definiteness rather than a word that carries significant semantic content."
— Tony McEnery and Andrew Hardie, Corpus Linguistics: Method, Theory and Practice, 2012

"Research that examines the combined effect of lifestyle factors on mortality is plentiful, and data have been colligated in a recent meta-analysis."
— Valentina A. Andreeva et al., The American Journal of Public Health, November 2014

 

Did You Know?

Colligate (not to be confused with collocate or collegiate) is a technical term that descends from Latin colligare, itself from com- ("with") plus ligare ("to tie"). Which of the following words is NOT tied to ligare?

Ligature, ligament, lien, rely, ally, collogue, oblige, furl, league. Ligature, ligament, lien, rely, ally, oblige, furl, and league (in the sense of "an association of persons, groups, or teams") can all be traced back along varying paths to ligare. That leaves only collogue (meaning "to confer")—whose origin is unknown. (Collocate and collegiate are also unrelated via ligare.)

Minatory

WORD OF THE DAY

 

MINATORY \ MIN-uh-tor-ee \ adjective

 

Definition

: having a menacing quality

 

Examples

In the moonlight, the twisted winter trees took on a particularly baleful and minatory appearance.

"No one likes to hear or heed prophets of doom, but history is replete with them.… The minatory mutterings of the Delphic Oracle were often unheeded by the Greeks."
— Brian Roche, Redlands (California) Daily Facts, 28 Sept. 2015

 

Did You Know?

Knowing that minatory means "threatening," can you take a guess at a related word? If you're familiar with mythology, perhaps you guessed Minotaur, the name of the bull-headed, people-eating monster of Crete. Minotaur is a good guess, but as terrifying as the monster sounds, its name isn't related to today's word. The relative we're searching for is actually menace.

Minatory and menace both come from derivatives of the Latin verb minari, which means "to threaten." Minatory was borrowed directly from Late Latin minatorius. Menace came to English via Anglo-French manace, menace, which came from Latin minac-, minax, meaning "threatening."

Henotheism

WORD OF THE DAY

 

HENOTHEISM \ HEN-uh-thee-iz-um \ noun

 

Definition

: the worship of one god without denying the existence of other gods

 

Examples

"For Assyrian kings, the god Ashur … was proclaimed to be the true king, and the human king was the god's regent. In other words, in the ancient world, henotheism was a convenient method for imposing a king's rule over subject peoples: one all-powerful god means one all-powerful king as well."
— A. C. Black, Canaan and Israel in Antiquity: An Introduction, 2001

"Wishing to find the roots of Jewish monotheism in the cult of Aten, Freud worked freely with ancient Egyptian henotheism: that is, the concept of the sun as one supreme divinity among many."
— David Meghnagi, The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 2014

 

Did You Know?

Henotheism comes to us from the German word Henotheismus, which in turn is derived from Greek hen- ("one") and theos ("god"). Someone who engages in henotheism worships one god but does not deny that there are others.

Max Müller, a respected 19th-century scholar, is credited with promoting the word henotheism as a counterpart to polytheism ("belief in or worship of more than one god") and monotheism ("the doctrine or belief that there is but one God").

Müller also used the related word kathenotheism, from Greek kath' hena ("one at a time"), for the worship of several gods successively.

Foreshorten

WORD OF THE DAY

 

FORESHORTEN \ for-SHORT-un \ verb

 

Definition

1: to shorten by proportionately contracting in the direction of depth so that an illusion of projection or extension in space is obtained

 

2a: to make more compact

2b: abridge, shorten

 

Examples

"The past is a giant foreshortened with his feet towards us; and sometimes the feet are of clay."
— G. K. Chesterton, A Short History of England, 1917

"A low vantage point provides the opportunity to dramatically foreshorten the dimensions of the building, drawing the eye upward to the dome."
— Mary McNaughton, The Little Book of Drawing, 2007

 

Did You Know?

Foreshorten first appeared in a 1606 treatise on art by the British writer and artist Henry Peacham: "If I should paint ... an horse with his brest and head looking full in my face, I must of necessity foreshorten him behinde."

Peacham's foreshorten comes from fore- (meaning "earlier" or "beforehand") plus shorten. The addition of fore- to verbs was a routine practice in Peacham's day, creating such words as fore-conclude, fore-consider, fore-instruct, and fore-repent.

Foreshorten, along with words like foresee and foretell, is one of the few fore- combinations to still survive.

Fulsome

WORD OF THE DAY

 

FULSOME \ FULL-sum \ adjective

 

Definition

1a : characterized by abundance

1c: copious

1c : generous in amount, extent, or spirit

 

2: aesthetically, morally, or generally offensive

 

3a: exceeding the bounds of good taste

3b: overdone

 

4a: excessively complimentary or flattering

4b: effusive

 

Examples

"The magnolia was in fulsome bloom, great waxy cups in dark green saucers pressing against the windows."
— Caroline Graham, The Killings at Badger's Drift, 1987

"Consider, in particular, the case of Britain. In 2010, when the new government of Prime Minister David Cameron turned to austerity policies, it received fulsome praise from many people on this side of the Atlantic."
— Paul Krugman, The New York Times, 24 Jan. 2013

 

Did You Know?

One has only to survey the meanings of fulsome—listed above in the order in which they developed—to understand why there is a lot of confusion about exactly what fulsome means. Some critics disapprove of using it in its original "copious" sense because they feel that sense is not negative enough; they say that fulsome should always be at least mildly deprecatory.

It's true that today fulsome is often used pejoratively to describe overly effusive language, but modern English writers still sometimes use it simply to mean "abundant," or occasionally even in contexts where it is complimentary. Some writers go to the more negative extreme, using it for things that are offensive to normal tastes or sensibilities. To avoid misinterpretation, either be sure that the context in which you use the word makes the intended meaning clear or choose a different word.

Vicinity

WORD OF THE DAY

 

VICINITY \ vuh-SIN-uh-tee \ noun

 

Definition

1: the quality or state of being near : proximity

 

2a: a surrounding area or district
2b: neighborhood

 

3: an approximate amount, extent, or degree

 

Examples

There are several wonderful little stores in the vicinity of our new house.

"He showed me how to draw the bowstring and where to keep my sights. Within a few tries, I was shooting in the vicinity of the target."
— Lisa Lutz, Self, June 2015

 

Did You Know?

Vicinity has its origins in the idea of neighborliness—it was borrowed into English in the 16th century from Middle French vicinité, which in turn derives from the Latin adjective vicinus, meaning "neighboring."

Vicinus itself can be traced back to the noun vicus, meaning "row of houses" or "village," and ultimately all the way back to the same ancient word that gave Gothic, Old Church Slavic, and Greek words for "house."

Other descendants of vicinus in English include vicinal ("local" or "of, relating to, or substituted in adjacent sites in a molecule") and vicinage, a synonym of vicinity in the sense of "a neighboring or surrounding district."

Ruly

WORD OF THE DAY

RULY \ ROO-lee \ adjective

 

Definition

: obedient, orderly

 

Examples

As far as groups of young children go, this one was unusually ruly: the youngsters were all fully engaged in building with a large set of colored blocks. "My hair is ruly, in fact, and I get it cut at least once a month."
— Mike Pound, The Joplin (Missouri) Globe, 22 June 2013

Did You Know?

You're probably familiar with unruly, meaning "not readily controlled or disciplined." It's a useful word, along with such synonyms as defiant and willful. It has plenty of antonyms too, among them the wholly logical ruly.

Haven't heard of ruly till now? We're not surprised. Ruly and unruly are of the same 15th-century vintage, but the former never caught on the way unruly did. The more common unruly is also the older of the pair: ruly was formed by a process called "back-formation" from unruly.

Ultimately, both words come from reuly, a Middle English word meaning "disciplined." Reuly in turn comes from Middle English reule, a predecessor of rule.

Onomastics

WORD OF THE DAY

 

ONOMASTICS \ ah-nuh-MAS-tiks \ noun

 

Definition

1a : the science or study of the origins and forms of words especially as used in a specialized field

1b : the science or study of the origin and forms of proper names of persons or places

 

2: the system underlying the formation and use of words especially for proper names or of words used in a specialized field

Examples

As a student of onomastics, Gloria liked to keep track of the most popular baby names across generations.

"Leaving that aside, the name Fatima is also used by Catholics, who take it from the town where the Virgin Mary was reported to have appeared in 1917 (itself, in one of those byways of onomastics, named after a princess who bore the name of Mohammed's daughter)."
— Dot Wordsworth, The Spectator (London), 9 May 2015

 

Did You Know?

The original word for the science of naming was onomatology, which was adopted from French in the mid-19th century. About a century later, however, people began referring to the science as onomastics, a term based on the Greek verb onomazein ("to name").

Like many sciences, onomastics is itself composed of special divisions. An onomastician might, for example, study personal names or place names, names of a specific region or historical period, or even the character names of a particular author, like Charles Dickens.

Inviolable

WORD OF THE DAY

 

INVIOLABLE \ in-VYE-uh-luh-bul \ adjective

 

Definition

1: secure from violation or profanation

 

2a: secure from assault or trespass
2b: unassailable

 

Examples

The senator agreed to an interview on the basis of a set of clear and inviolable rules about what she would and would not answer.

"Perhaps M Train represents the attempt by someone whose career is as public as can be imagined to stake out a zone of inviolable privacy, albeit through the public act of writing a book meant for publication."
— Geoffrey O’Brien, The New York Review of Books, 22 Oct. 2015

 

Did You Know?

Inviolable is a venerable word that has been with us since the 15th century. Its opposite, violable ("capable of being or likely to be violated") appeared a century later. The English playwright Shackerley Marmion made good use of violable in A Fine Companion in 1633, writing, "Alas, my heart is Tender and violable with the least weapon Sorrow can dart at me."

But English speakers have never warmed up to that word the way we have to inviolable, and it continues to be used much less frequently. Both terms descend from Latin violare, which both shares the meaning and is an ancestor of the English word violate.

Bipartisan

WORD OF THE DAY

 

BIPARTISAN \ bye-PAR-ti-zun \ adjective

 

Definition

1a: of, relating to, or involving members of two parties

1b: specifically : marked by or involving cooperation, agreement, and compromise between two major political parties

 

Examples

The bill has bipartisan support in the Senate, since it stands to benefit both Democrats and Republicans equally.

"The stated aim of No Labels, the group giving the dinner ahead of its Problem Solver Convention on Monday, was to encourage bipartisan leadership."
— Ruth La Ferla, The New York Times, 12 Oct. 2015

Did You Know?

Bipartisan is a two-part word. The first element is the prefix bi-, which means "two"; the second is partisan, a word that traces through Middle French and north Italian dialect to the Latin part- or pars, meaning "part."

Partisan itself has a long history as a word in English. It has been used as a noun in reference to a firm adherent to a party, faction, or cause (especially one exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance), since the 16th century.

The related adjective (meaning "of, relating to, or characteristic of a partisan") appeared in the 19th century, as did, after a space of some 50 years, the adjective bipartisan.

Ebullient

WORD OF THE DAY

 

EBULLIENT \ ih-BULL-yunt \ adjective

 

Definition

1: boiling, agitated

 

2a: having or showing liveliness and enthusiasm

2b: exuberant

 

Examples

"Keegan, effortlessly ebullient even on his worst days, is probably the easiest person in the history of civilization to have a conversation with…."
— Jay Martel, The New Yorker (online), 9 Sept. 2015

"You have to feel ebullient in what you're wearing.… Especially in the spring, you want to enjoy yourself."
— Alexa Adams, quoted in Reuters UK, 16 Sept. 2015

 

Did You Know?

Someone who is ebullient is bubbling over with enthusiasm, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that the adjective ebullient derives from the Latin verb ebullire, which means "to bubble out." (The stem bullire is an ancestor of our word boil and derives from bulla, the Latin word for "bubble.")

In its earliest known uses in English in the late 1500s, ebullient was used in the sense of "boiling" or "bubbling" that might have described a pot simmering on the stove. Only later did the word's meaning broaden to encompass emotional agitation (particularly of the exuberant kind) in addition to the tempestuous roiling of a boiling liquid.

Sinecure

WORD OF THE DAY

 

SINECURE \ SYE-nih-kyoor \ noun

 

Definition

: an office or position that requires little or no work and that usually provides an income

 

Examples

The king was in the habit of rewarding his loyal supporters with sinecures.

"The status of former presidential nominee turned influential insider is more than just a nice sinecure for a politician in the twilight of his career. It's the foundation for another presidential run."
— Jamelle Bouie, The Chicago Tribune, 14 Jan. 2015

Did You Know?

Sinecure comes from the Medieval Latin phrase sine cura, which literally means "without cure." No, the first sinecures were not cushy jobs for those suffering with incurable maladies. T

he word sinecure first referred to "an ecclesiastical benefice without cure of souls"—that is, a church position in which the job-holder did not have to tend to the spiritual care and instruction of church members. Such sinecures were virtually done away with by the end of the 19th century, but by then the word had acquired a broader sense referring to any paid position with few or no responsibilities.

Gadfly

WORD OF THE DAY

 

GADFLY \ GAD-flye \ noun

 

Definition

1: any of various flies that bite or annoy livestock

2: a person who stimulates or annoys especially by persistent criticism

Examples

Ms. Johnson has long been a gadfly at town meetings, and I've grown weary of her attempts to hector the town council into doing as she sees fit.

"The council will hold a hearing Wednesday for members of the public to come to City Hall to vent on the budget, an event that often ends up with … various gadflies offering their plans for closing the city's deficit."
— John Byrne, The Chicago Tribune, 11 Oct. 2015

 

Did You Know?

The history of gadfly starts with gad, which now means "chisel" but which formerly could designate a spike, a spear, or a rod for goading cattle. Late in the 16th century, gad was joined with fly to designate any of several insects that aggravate livestock. Before too long, we began applying gadfly to people who annoyed or provoked others.
One of history's most famous gadflies is the philosopher Socrates, who was known for his constant questioning of his fellow Athenians' ethics, misconceptions, and assumptions. In his Apology, Plato describes Socrates' characterization of Athens as a great slumbering horse and of Socrates himself as the fly that bites and rouses it. Many translations use gadfly in this portion of the Apology, and Socrates is sometimes referred to as the "gadfly of Athens."

Noachian

Word of the Day

 

Noachian \ noh-AY-kee-un \ adjective

 

DEFINITION: of or relating to the patriarch Noah or his time

 

EXAMPLES"He eventually concluded that all the many floods he now recognized had antedated the Noachian deluge."
— Stephen Jay Gould, The Flamingo's Smile, 1985

"The Noachian covenant indicates to her that God had evolved from an omnipotent, omniscient deity 'to a sadder, wiser deity' who realizes that his punishment was 'a bit excessive'…."
— Brigid Curtin Frein, Theological Studies, September 2009

DID YOU KNOW?

Students of the Bible know that Noah survived the Great Flood by stowing himself, his family, and two of every kind of creature on his Ark. "Noachian" is derived from the Hebrew name for Noah. Modern contexts find "Noachian" used in reference to the Great Flood or, more humorously, to describe torrential rainstorms and flooding reminiscent of the Biblical event.

It could be said that usage of "Noachian" spans even beyond planet Earth. Astronomers studying the surface of the planet Mars use "Noachian" to refer to the epoch between 4.6 and 3.5 billion years ago when that planet's oldest craters were believed to be formed. This usage is based on "Noachis Terra" one of the landmasses of Mars. The name, which translates as "Land of Noah," was chosen in the 19th century by Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli.

Umami

WORD OF THE DAY

 

UMAMI \ oo-MAH-mee \ noun

 

Definition

: a taste sensation that is meaty or savory and is produced by several amino acids and nucleotides (such as glutamate and aspartate)

 

Examples

The cookbook has an entire chapter on umami, and lists a number of common ingredients—from tomato paste to Worcestershire sauce to anchovies—as easy ways to add it to dishes.

"Adding even more umami to this dish is the nutritional yeast…. It adds a wonderful aged-cheese-like flavor.…"
— Melissa d'Arabian, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 26 Sept. 2015

 

Did You Know?

Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda is credited with identifying as a distinct taste the savory flavor of the amino acid glutamic acid, which he first noticed in soup stocks made with seaweed.

This fifth basic taste—alongside sweet, sour, salty, and bitter—was named umami, meaning "savoriness" in Japanese. Umami can be experienced in foods such as mushrooms, anchovies, and mature cheeses, as well as in foods enhanced with monosodium glutamate, or MSG, a sodium salt derived from glutamic acid.

Lucullan

WORD OF THE DAY

 

LUCULLAN \ loo-KULL-un \ adjective

 

Definition

: lavish, luxurious

 

Examples

"Two millennia ago, taverns were liberally represented in Pompeii. Today, there's just one place: Autogrill cafeteria near the Forum. Not exactly Lucullan feasting, but they do sell passable panini."

— Michelle Locke, The Miami Herald, 25 Sept. 2015

"For most, gaining a few easily shed pounds is a small price to pay for a week or two of Lucullan bliss."
— Kevin Doyle, The Condé Nast Traveler, November 1994

 

Did You Know?

Lucullan echoes the name of Roman general Lucius Licinius Lucullus. The general had a distinguished military career (including the defeat of Mithradates VI Eupator, king of Pontus, at Cabira in 72 B.C.E.), but he is best remembered for the splendor of his opulent retirement.

Lucullus established a reputation for magnificent banquets, at which he wined and dined the leading poets, artists, and philosophers of his time. His feasts were sufficiently extravagant to establish a lasting place for his name (in adjective form) as a synonym of lavish in the English lexicon.

Williwaw

WORD OF THE DAY

WILLIWAW \ WILL-ih-waw \ noun 

 

Definition

1a : a sudden violent gust of cold land air common along mountainous coasts of high latitudes

1b : a sudden violent wind

 

2: a violent commotion

 

Examples

The sailors had all heard stories of ships capsized by the williwaws that plagued the strait.

"… he could see the downdraft kicking up sea spray and moving straight toward his airplane as he taxied on the water, a sign the williwaw was powerful."
— Scott Christiansen, The Kodiak (Alaska) Daily Mirror, 14 Sept. 2007

 

Did You Know?

In 1900, Captain Joshua Slocum described williwaws as "compressed gales of wind … that Boreas handed down over the hills in chunks." To unsuspecting sailors or pilots, such winds might seem to come out of nowhere—just like word williwaw did some 170 years ago. All anyone knows about the origin of the word is that it was first used by writers in the mid-1800s to name fierce winds in the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of South America. The writers were British, and indications are that they may have learned the word from British sailors and seal hunters. Where these sailors and hunters got the word, we cannot say.