Friday, June 29, 2018

Tome

WORD OF THE DAY
tome / noun / TOHM 
 
Definition
1: a volume forming part of a larger work
2: book; especially : a large or scholarly book
Examples
It took me more than a month to finish reading that 800-page tome on the French Revolution.

"I also bring a book I've never read, some large tome that I'm wary of, but that I also think will captivate me once I'm on page one hundred, and I won't be able to put it down."
— Alejandro Zambra, Not To Read (translated by Megan McDowell), 2018

Did You Know?
Tome comes from Latin tomus, which comes from Greek tomos, meaning "section" or "roll of papyrus." Tomos is from the Greek verb temnein, which means "to cut." 
In ancient times, some of the longest scrolls of papyrus occasionally were divided into sections. When it was first used in English in the 16th century, tome was a book that was a part of a multi-volume work or a major part of a single-volume book. 
Now a tome is most often simply a large and often ponderous book.

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Ostensible

WORD OF THE DAY
ostensible / adjective / ah-STEN-suh-bul 
 
Definition
1a: intended for display
1b: open to view
2a: being such in appearance
2b: plausible rather than demonstrably true or real

Examples
The novel's ostensible hero is in the end a villain of epic proportions.
"It's never for the profits or the sheer satisfaction of sticking it to your enemies and putting yourself in the best possible light. No, there's always some ostensible higher cause."
— Rich Lowry, The Boston Herald, 18 Apr. 2018

Did You Know?
Like its synonyms apparent and seeming, ostensible implies a discrepancy between what appears to be and what actually is.
Apparent suggests appearance to unaided senses that may not be borne out by more rigorous examination ("the apparent cause of the accident").
Seeming implies a character in the thing being observed that gives it the appearance of something else ("the seeming simplicity of the story").
Ostensible, which descends from the Latin word ostendere ("to show"), suggests a discrepancy between a declared or implied aim or reason and the true one.

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Bedizen

WORD OF THE DAY
bedizen / verb / bih-DYE-zun 
 
Definition
: to dress or adorn gaudily

Examples
The children entertained themselves for hours with the contents of the old trunk, donning fancy dresses and bedizening themselves with jewelry and scarves.

"Designed by architect Pierre Dené, the two-story 'rancho deluxe' bedizened itself with every California-style feature that defined its era. It had a Roman brick fireplace, terrazzo floors and big dramatic windows."
Lisa Gray, The Houston Chronicle, 20 Apr. 2008

Did You Know?
Bedizen doesn't have the flashy history you might expect—its roots lie in the rather quiet art of spinning thread. 
In times past, the spinning process began with the placement of fibers (such as flax) on an implement called a distaff; the fibers were then drawn out from the distaff and twisted into thread. Bedizen descends from the older, now obsolete, verb disen, which means "to dress a distaff with flax" and which came to English by way of Middle Dutch. 
The spelling of disen eventually became dizen, and its meaning expanded to cover the "dressing up" of things other than distaffs. In the mid-17th century, English speakers began using bedizen with the same meaning.

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Kaput

WORD OF THE DAY

kaput / adjective / kuh-PUT

Definition
1: utterly finished, defeated, or destroyed
2a: unable to function 
2b: useless
3: hopelessly outmoded

Examples
"Sure, there are still top-billed behemoths capable of guaranteeing a strong opening, like Dwayne Johnson and Leonardo DiCaprio, but for the most part, the idea of a box office movie star is kaput." 
— Brandon Katz, The Observer, 19 May 2018

"Whether a jagged maw of grinning shark teeth, or a perpetually surprised oval, the automobile grille serves a very important function: it allows air to flow in, cooling the radiator and generally keeping the engine from overheating and going kaput." 
— Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 1 Apr. 2018

Did You Know?
Kaput originated with a card game called piquet that has been popular in France for centuries. 
French players originally used the term capot to describe both big winners and big losers in piquet. To win all twelve tricks in a hand was called "faire capot" ("to make capot"), but to lose them all was known as "être capot" ("to be capot"). 

German speakers adopted capot, but respelled it kaputt, and used it only for losers. When English speakers borrowed the word from German, they started using kaput for things that were broken, useless, or destroyed.

Monday, June 25, 2018

Amortize

WORD OF THE DAY

amortize / verb / AM-er-tyze 
 
Definition
1: to pay off (an obligation, such as a mortgage) gradually usually by periodic payments of principal and interest or by payments to a sinking fund
2: to gradually reduce or write off the cost or value of (something, such as an asset)

Examples
"A standard three-year, 15,000-mile Momentum lease will run about $410 per month with the down payment amortized."
— J. P. Vettraino, AutoWeek, 8 Jan. 2018

"A typical car factory costs between $500 million and $1 billion to build, and the tooling and machinery are amortized over many years, which is why they need to produce hundreds of thousands of vehicles per year to be profitable."
— Alan Ohnsman and Joann Muller, Forbes, 12 Dec. 2017

Did You Know?
When you amortize a loan, you "kill it off" gradually by paying it down in installments. This is reflected in the word's etymology.
Amortize derives via Middle English and Anglo-French from Vulgar Latin admortire, meaning "to kill." The Latin noun mors ("death") is a root of admortire; it is related to our word murder, and it also gave us a word naming a kind of loan that is usually amortized: mortgage.
Amortize carries a different meaning in the field of corporate finance, where it means to depreciate the cost or value of an asset (as, for example, to reduce interest revenue on that asset for tax purposes).

Friday, June 22, 2018

Notorious

WORD OF THE DAY

notorious / adjective / noh-TOR-ee-us  
  
Definition
1: generally known and talked of
2: widely and unfavorably known

Examples

"Black-legged ticks, notorious for transmitting the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, are now present in almost half of U.S. counties, up nearly 45 percent since 1998." 
— Bradley Rife et al., O, The Oprah Magazine, April 2018

"Galveston Island has it all. To some, Texas' bustling island will always be defined by its storied past, its nineteenth-century elegance, big-city ambitions, notorious seaport, and even more notorious storms." 
— Texas Monthly, May 2018

Did You Know?
Notorious was adopted into English in the 16th century from Medieval Latin notorius, itself from Late Latin's noun notorium, meaning "information" or "indictment." 
Notorium, in turn, derives from the Latin verb noscere, meaning "to come to know." Although notorious can be a synonym of famous, meaning simply "widely known," it long ago developed the additional implication of someone or something unpleasant or undesirable. 
The Book of Common Prayer of 1549 includes one of the first known uses of the unfavorable meaning in print, referring to "notorious synners."

Thursday, June 21, 2018

Voracity

WORD OF THE DAY
voracity / noun / vuh-RASS-uh-tee 
 
Definition
: the quality or state of being ravenous or insatiable


Examples
Elena reads books with such voracity that she returns to the library two or three times a week.


"In the end, spiders' voracity actually works out to mankind's benefit. Since they primarily feast on bugs, their hunger means fewer pests in the garden, fewer mosquitoes in the yard, and fewer flies in the house."
— Christopher Ingraham, The Boston Globe, 29 Mar. 2017


Did You Know?
Voracity comes to us (via Middle French voracité) from the Latin word voracitas, which itself comes from vorax, meaning "voracious," plus -itas, the Latin equivalent of the English noun suffix -ity. Voracity is one of two English words that mean "the quality or state of being voracious." The other is voraciousness, which was once considered to be archaic but has made a comeback.
Because voracity evolved from non-English forerunners, rather than being created in English from voracious (as was voraciousness), the word may strike some English speakers as an unusual formation.
It's not surprising, therefore, that the more familiar-looking voraciousness has reappeared—most likely through a process of reinvention by people unfamiliar with voracity.

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Balmy


WORD OF THE DAY
balmy / adjective / BAH-mee 


Definition
1a: having the qualities of balm
1b: soothing
1c: mild, temperate
2: crazy, foolish


Examples
"Men often don't moisturize their skin during the hotter months, but should. It's a misconception that oily skin doesn't get dehydrated. Use a lightweight moisturizer that isn't heavy or sticky in balmy weather."
— Joane Amay, Ebony, June 2018


"He arose with the first peep of day, and sallied forth to enjoy the balmy breeze of morning...."
— Thomas Love Peacock, Headlong Hall, 1816


Did You Know?
It's no secret that balmy is derived from balm, an aromatic ointment or fragrance that heals or soothes. So when did it come to mean "foolish," you might wonder?
Balmy goes back to the 15th century and was often used in contexts referring to weather, such as "a balmy breeze" or, as Mark Twain wrote in Tom Sawyer, "The balmy summer air, the restful quiet...." Around the middle of the 19th century, it developed a new sense suggesting a weak or unbalanced mind. It is uncertain if the soft quality or the soothing effect of balm influenced this use. But later in the century, balmy became altered to barmy in its "crazy" sense.
This alteration may have come about from a mix-up with another barmy, meaning "full of froth or ferment." That barmy is from barm, a term for the yeast formed on fermenting malt liquors, which can indeed make one act balmy.

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Quail

WORD OF THE DAY
quail / verb / KWAIL 
 
Definition
1a: to give way
1b: falter
2a: to recoil in dread or terror
2b: cower


Examples
"It wasn't so long ago that book publishers and bookstore owners were quailing about the coming of e-books, like movie theatre owners at the dawn of the television age."
— Michael Hiltzik, The Gulf Times, 10 May 2017


"I've a Pooh in me, blundering about, trying to think large thoughts, making pronouncements I hope won't be challenged. And I'm sometimes a Piglet, quailing in front of imaginary dangers, or figuratively jumping up and down to squeak, 'I'm here! What about me?'"
— Jim Atwell, The Cooperstown (New York) Crier, 15 June 2017


Did You Know?
Flinch, recoil, and wince are all synonyms of quail, but each word has a slightly different use. When you flinch, you fail to endure pain or to face something dangerous or frightening with resolution ("she faced her accusers without flinching").
Recoil implies a start or movement away from something through shock, fear, or disgust ("he recoiled at the suggestion of stealing").
Wince usually suggests a slight involuntary physical reaction to something ("she winced as the bright light suddenly hit her eyes").
Quail implies shrinking and cowering in fear ("he quailed before the apparition").

Monday, June 18, 2018

Jabberwocky

WORD OF THE DAY
jabberwocky / noun / JAB-er-wah-kee 
 
Definition
: meaningless speech or writing


Examples
Amanda learned to ignore her critics, dismissing their attacks as the jabberwocky of minds with nothing more important to think of about.


"When LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh stepped into the crowded room, fashionably late, jabberwocky ceased and the only sound you heard was the whir and click of cameras."
— Greg Cote, The Miami Herald, 28 Sept. 2010


Did You Know?
In a poem titled "Jabberwocky" in the book Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1872), Lewis Carroll warned his readers about a frightful beast:


"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"


This nonsensical poem caught the public's fancy, and by 1908 jabberwocky was being used as a generic term for meaningless speech or writing.
The word bandersnatch has also seen some use as a general noun, with the meaning "a wildly grotesque or bizarre individual."
It's a much rarer word than jabberwocky, though, and is entered only in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.

Friday, June 15, 2018

Pugnacious

WORD OF THE DAY
pugnacious / adjective / pug-NAY-shus 
 
Definition
1: having a quarrelsome or combative nature
2: truculent


Examples
"In almost all the Orders, the males of some species, even of weak and delicate kinds, are known to be highly pugnacious; and some few are furnished with special weapons for fighting with their rivals."
— Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, 1871


"[Coach Gregg] Popovich, whose interviews can be humorously pugnacious, wasn't in the mood to look back on the streak on Monday night, saying 'Awww, it's wonderful,' without further elaboration."
— Victor Mather, The New York Times, 11 Apr. 2018


Did You Know?
Pugnacious individuals are often looking for a fight. While unpleasant, at least their fists are packing an etymological punch.
Pugnacious comes from the Latin verb pugnare (meaning "to fight"), which in turn comes from the Latin word for "fist," pugnus. Another Latin word related to pugnus is pugil, meaning "boxer."
Pugil is the source of our word pugilist, which means "fighter" and is used especially of professional boxers.
Pugnare has also given us impugn ("to assail by words or arguments"), oppugn ("to fight against"), and repugnant (which is now used primarily in the sense of "exciting distaste or aversion," but which has also meant "characterized by contradictory opposition" and "hostile").



Thursday, June 14, 2018

Defenestration

WORD OF THE DAY
defenestration / noun / dee-fen-uh-STRAY-shun 
 
Definition
1: a throwing of a person or thing out of a window
2: a usually swift dismissal or expulsion (as from a political party or office)


Examples
Although defenestration may seem an appropriate response to an alarm clock set for too early an hour, the demise of the device does not change the hour of the day.


"It's possible that nobody in Hollywood works harder than Tom Cruise, who, in his latest turn as Ethan Hunt, once again finds himself in a race against time after a mission goes wrong. Expect defenestration, helicopter crashes, and exploding motorbikes."
— Vogue (vogue.com), 22 May 2018


Did You Know?
These days defenestration is often used to describe the forceful removal of someone from public office or from some other advantageous position. History's most famous defenestration, however, was one in which the tossing out the window was quite literal. On May 23, 1618, two imperial regents were found guilty of violating certain guarantees of religious freedom. As punishment, they were thrown out the window of Prague Castle. The men survived the 50-foot tumble into the moat, but the incident, which became known as the Defenestration of Prague, marked the beginning of the Bohemian resistance to Hapsburg rule that eventually led to the Thirty Years' War.

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Mantic

WORD OF THE DAY
mantic / adjective / MAN-tik 


Definition
1: of or relating to the faculty of divination
2: prophetic


Examples
The magician mesmerized the crowd with her sleight-of-hand tricks as well as her mantic predictions.


"Like everyone else, I was in awe of her mantic abilities, and I think she looked upon my storytelling endeavors with indulgence, having known both my father and my grandfather in their prime."
— Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya, The Storyteller of Marrakesh, 2011


Did You Know?
The adjective mantic comes from the Greek word mantikos, which itself derives from mantis, meaning "prophet." The mantis insect got its name from this same source, supposedly because its posture—with the forelimbs extended as though in prayer—reminded folks of a prophet.
Not surprisingly, the combining form -mancy, which means "divination in a (specified) manner" (as in necromancy and pyromancy), is a relative of mantic. A less expected, and more distant, relative is mania, meaning "excitement manifested by mental and physical hyperactivity, disorganized behavior, and elevated mood" or "excessive or unreasonable enthusiasm."
Mania descends from Greek mainesthai ("to be mad"), a word akin to mantis and its offspring. And indeed, prophesying in ancient Greece was sometimes believed to be "inspired madness."

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Epithet

WORD OF THE DAY
epithet / noun / EP-uh-thet 
 
Definition
1: a characterizing word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing
2: a disparaging or abusive word or phrase
3: the part of a taxonomic name identifying a subordinate unit within a genus


Examples
The school's policy makes it clear that derogatory epithets will not be tolerated.


"Herbert Hoover, who could justifiably campaign as a progressive Republican, pigeonholed Smith as an advocate of state socialism (the same epithet that a spiteful Smith would hurl at Roosevelt in 1936)."
— Sam Roberts, The New York Times, 22 Apr. 2018


Did You Know?
Nowadays, epithet is usually used negatively, with the meaning "a derogatory word or phrase," but it wasn't always that way. Epithet comes to us via Latin from the Greek noun epitheton and ultimately derives from epitithenai, meaning "to put on" or "to add." In its oldest sense, an epithet is simply a descriptive word or phrase, especially one joined by fixed association to the name of someone or something (as in "Peter the Great" or the stock Homeric phrases "gray-eyed Athena" and "wine-dark sea"). Alternatively, epithets may be used in place of a name (as in "the Peacemaker" or "the Eternal"). These neutral meanings of epithet are still in use, but today the word is more often used in its negative "term of disparagement" sense.

Monday, June 11, 2018

Abrogate

WORD OF THE DAY
abrogate / verb / AB-ruh-gayt 
 
Definition
1a: to abolish by authoritative action
1b: annul
2: to treat as nonexistent


Examples
"U.S. deterrence in the Taiwan Strait used to resemble U.S. deterrence elsewhere: Washington had a formal alliance with the Republic of China and stationed troops in Taiwan. But the United States abrogated the alliance treaty when it broke official ties with the Republic of China in 1979."
— Scott Kastner, The Washington Post, 30 Apr. 2018


"While we must not engage in partisan political acts such as endorsing candidates and parties, to remain silent on the pressing issues of our time is to abrogate our moral responsibility."
— Rabbi Dan Fink, The Idaho Statesman, 21 Apr. 2018


Did You Know?
If you can't simply wish something out of existence, the next best thing might be to "propose it away." That's more or less what abrogate lets you do—etymologically speaking, at least.
Abrogate comes from the Latin root rogare, which means "to propose a law," and ab-, meaning "from" or "away."
We won't propose that you try to get away from the fact that rogare is also an ancestor in the family tree of prerogative and interrogate.
Abrogate first appeared in English as a verb in the 16th century; it was preceded by an adjective sense meaning "annulled" or "cancelled," which is now obsolete.

Friday, June 8, 2018

Whelm

WORD OF THE DAY

Whelm / verb / WELM

Examples
The hotel was adequate but we were far from whelmed by the view of the alley and the lack of hot water.

"By the time San Jose annexed the town to expand its sewage-treatment plant in 1968, nature had already begun to reclaim the bayside. The town of 2,500 splintered, rusted and sank as groundwater was over-pumped, sea water rose on all sides and storm surges whelmed the backed-up drains." 
— Jennifer Wadsworth, The San Jose (California) Inside, 8 Dec. 2016

Definition
1a: to turn (something, such as a dish or vessel) upside down usually to cover something 
1b: to cover or engulf completely with usually disastrous effect
2: to overcome in thought or feeling : overwhelm
3: to pass or go over something so as to bury or submerge it

Did You Know?
In the film comedy Ten Things I Hate About You (1999), the character Chastity Church asks, "I know you can be underwhelmed and you can be overwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?" The answer, Chastity, is yes. 
Contemporary writers sometimes use whelm to denote a middle stage between underwhelm and overwhelm. But that's not how whelm has traditionally been used. 
Whelm and overwhelm have been with us since Middle English (when they were whelmen and overwhelmen), and throughout the years their meanings have largely overlapped. Both words early on meant "to overturn," for example, and both have also come to mean "to overpower in thought or feeling." 
After folks started using a third word, underwhelmed, for "unimpressed," whelmed began popping up with the meaning "moderately impressed."





Thursday, June 7, 2018

Boondoggle

WORD OF THE DAY

boondoggle / noun / BOON-dah-gul

Definition
1 : a braided cord worn by Boy Scouts as a neckerchief slide, hatband, or ornament
2 : a wasteful or impractical project or activity often involving graft

Examples
"It may be an urban legend that the Pentagon spent $600 on a hammer in the 1980s, but it's no secret that the Department of Defense has at times acquired a well-deserved reputation for boondoggles and profligate spending." 
— The National Review, 16 Oct. 2017

"Conservatives often reflexively dismiss infrastructure spending as a boondoggle, and liberals, perhaps in reaction, often reflexively defend it, no matter how wasteful." 
— Jim Surowiecki, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2017

Did You Know?
When boondoggle popped up in the early 1900s, lots of people tried to explain where the word came from. One theory traced it to an Ozarkian word for "gadget," while another related it to the Tagalog word that gave us boondocks. 
Another hypothesis suggested that boondoggle came from the name of leather toys Daniel Boone supposedly made for his dog. But the only theory that is supported by evidence is much simpler. In the 1920s, Robert Link, a scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America, apparently coined the word to name the braided leather cords made and worn by scouts. 
The word came to prominence when such a boondoggle was presented to the Prince of Wales at the 1929 World Jamboree, and it's been with us ever since.


Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Unbeknownst

WORD OF THE DAY

unbeknownst / adjective / un-bih-NOHNST

Definition
1: happening or existing without the knowledge of someone specified — usually used with to
2a: not known or not well-known
2b: unknown

Examples
"… Travis was the one who paid the bills—and he often used credit cards to cover them, unbeknownst to Vonnie." 
— Penny Wrenn, Forbes.com, 9 Oct. 2013

"… Senate Bill 15, approved unanimously by that House committee Thursday, hopes to help homeowners who find themselves the victim of 'squatting'—people who illegally move into a home, often unbeknownst to the homeowner." 
— Marianne Goodland, The Gazette(Colorado Springs, Colorado), 12 Apr. 2018

Did You Know?
Unbeknownst is an irregular variant of the older unbeknown, which derives from beknown, an obsolete synonym of known. But for a word with a straightforward history, unbeknownst and the now less common unbeknown have caused quite a stir among usage commentators. 
In spite of widespread use (including appearances in the writings of Charles Dickens, A. E. Housman, and E. B. White), the grammarian H. W. Fowler in 1926 categorized the two words as "out of use except in dialect or uneducated speech." 

The following year, G. P. Krapp called them "humorous, colloquial, and dialectal." Our evidence, however, shows that both words are standard even in formal prose.

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Fustigate

WORD OF THE DAY

fustigate / verb / FUSS-tuh-gayt

Definition
1A: to beat with or as if with a short heavy club 
1b: cudgel
2: to criticize severely

Examples
Matthew was thoroughly ­fustigated for failing to reserve a table large enough to accommodate all of the visitors from the corporate main office.

"Ontario Court Justice Charles Vaillancourt …  fustigated them all, effectively characterizing the charges against Duffy as an abuse of power. " 
— Neil Macdonald, CBC.ca, 23 Apr. 2016

Did You Know?
Though it won't leave a bump on your head, severe criticism can be a blow to your self-esteem. It's no wonder that fustigate, when it first appeared in the 17th century, originally meant "to cudgel or beat with a short heavy stick," a sense that reflects the word's derivation from the Latin noun fustis, which means "club" or "staff." 

The "criticize" sense is more common these days, but the violent use of fustigate was a hit with earlier writers like George Huddesford, who in 1801 told of an angry Jove who "cudgell'd all the constellations, ... / Swore he'd eject the man i' the moon ... / And fustigate him round his orbit."

Monday, June 4, 2018

Opportune

WORD OF THE DAY

opportune / adjective / ah-per-TOON

Definition
1: suitable or convenient for a particular occurrence
2: occurring at an appropriate time

Examples
Kristin seized upon the first opportune moment to approach her boss about a raise.

"We believe that the recent momentum and widespread recognition the concept has received makes it an opportune time to introduce the brand to Sacramento." 
— David Leuterio, The Sacramento (California) Bee, 5 Apr. 2018

Did You Know?
To choose any port in a storm is sometimes the most opportune way of proceeding in a difficult situation—and appropriately so, etymologically speaking. 
Opportune descends from the Latin opportūnus, which means "favoring one's needs," "serviceable," and "convenient." 
Originally, opportūnus was probably used of winds with the literal meaning of "blowing in the direction of a harbor." The word is a combination of the prefix ob-, meaning "to," and portus, "port" or "harbor." Latin portus is also at the root of English port
Opportune and portboth made their way to English via Anglo-French, with port arriving before the 12th century, and opportune arriving in the 15th century.


Friday, June 1, 2018

Riposte

WORD OF THE DAY

riposte / noun / rih-POHST

Definition
1: a fencer's quick return thrust following a parry
2a: a retaliatory verbal sally 
2b: retort
3: a retaliatory maneuver or measure

Examples
"A riposte to the stuffy awards shows in music-industry centers like Los Angeles and New York, the impetus behind the Bay Area Music Awards was to play it fast, loose and irreverent." 
— Aidin Vaziri, The San Francisco Chronicle, 20 Mar. 2018

"Director Phyllida Lloyd delivers a riposte to the idea that cinema derived from theatre is somehow a static, inflexible affair with her vital all-female production of Julius Caesar." 
— Screen International, 25 June 2017

Did You Know?
In the sport of fencing, a riposte is a counterattack made after successfully fending off one's opponent. 
English speakers borrowed the name for this particular maneuver from French in the early 1700s, but the French had simply modified Italian risposta, which literally means "answer." 

Ultimately these words come from the Latin verb respondēre, meaning "to respond." It seems fitting that riposte has since come full circle to now refer to a quick and witty response performed as a form of retaliation.