Plenary

WORD OF THE DAY

plenary / adjective / PLEN-uh-ree PrevNext

Definition

1: complete in every respect : absolute, unqualified

2: fully attended or constituted by all entitled to be present

Examples

"The President always retains the plenary power granted to him by the Constitution to pardon or commute sentences, and does so at his sole discretion, guided when he sees fit by the advice of the Pardon Attorney." 

— Nicole Navas, quoted in The Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2020

"The UK is scheduled to leave the European Union this Friday once the European Parliament gave their assent to the Withdrawal Agreement in a special plenary vote on Wednesday." 

— Aurora Bosotti, The Express (UK), 27 Jan. 2020

Did You Know?

In the 14th century, the monk Robert of Brunne described a situation in which all the knights of King Arthur's Round Table were present at court by writing, "When Arthures court was plener, and alle were comen, fer and ner.…" 

For many years, plener (also spelled plenar) served English well for both senses that we reserve for plenary today. 

But we'd borrowed plener from Anglo-French, and, although the French had relied on Latin plenus ("full") for their word, the revival of interest in the Classics during the English Renaissance led scholars to prefer purer Latin origins. 

In the 15th century, English speakers turned to Late Latin plenarius and came up with plenary. (Plenarius also comes from plenus, which is the source of our plenty and replenish as well.)

Laissez-faire

WORD OF THE DAY

laissez-faire / noun / less-ay-FAIR

Definition

1: a doctrine opposing governmental interference in economic affairs beyond the minimum necessary for the maintenance of peace and property rights

2: a philosophy or practice characterized by a usually deliberate abstention from direction or interference especially with individual freedom of choice and action

Examples

"Though often viewed as an age of laissez-faire, the Victorian period saw ambitious lawmaking. Much of this involved revising existing legislation: one result was the expansion of the middle-class bureaucracy…." 

— Henry Hitchings, The Language Wars: A History of Proper English, 2011

"In the late nineteenth century, a new generation of economists, who had returned from training in Germany to challenge the laissez-faire orthodoxy of the American Gilded Age, gradually rose to prominence at Wharton. They argued that the government should intervene to address widening inequality of industrial capitalism." 

— David Sessions, The New Republic, March 2020

Did You Know?

The French phrase laissez faire literally means "allow to do," with the idea being "let people do as they choose." The origins of laissez-faire are associated with the Physiocrats, a group of 18th-century French economists who believed that government policy should not interfere with the operation of natural economic laws. 

The actual coiner of the phrase may have been French economist Vincent de Gournay, or it may have been François Quesnay, who is considered the group's founder and leader. 

The original phrase was laissez faire, laissez passer, with the second part meaning "let (things) pass." Laissez-faire, which first showed up in an English context in the first half of the 19th century, can still mean "a doctrine opposing governmental interference in economic affairs," but it is also used in broader contexts in which a "hands-off" or "anything-goes" policy or attitude is adopted. It is frequently used attributively before another noun.

Cordial

WORD OF THE DAY

cordial / adjective / KOR-jul

Definition

1a: showing or marked by warm and often hearty friendliness, favor, or approval 

1b: politely pleasant and friendly

1c: sincerely or deeply felt

2: tending to revive, cheer, or invigorate

Examples

Even though we disagree with one another on many points, we have long maintained a cordial relationship.

"Last Wednesday, three members of the Taste Test team had lunch at All City Grille…. The experience was wholly pleasant. The dining room is modern and clean, the student servers were cordial and efficient, and the food was well-prepared and well-priced." 

— Dan Kane, The Repository (Canton, Ohio), 12 Feb. 2020

Did You Know?

Cordial shares the Latin root cor with concord (meaning "harmony") and discord (meaning "conflict"). 

Cor means "heart," and each of these cor descendants has something to do with the heart, at least figuratively. 

Concord, which comes from con- (meaning "together" or "with") plus cor, suggests that one heart is with another. 

Discord combines the prefix dis- (meaning "apart") with cor, and it implies that hearts are apart. When cordial was first used in the 14th century, it literally meant "of or relating to the heart," but this sense has not been in use since the 17th century. 

Today anything that is cordial, be it a friendly welcome, a compliment, or an agreement, comes from the heart in a figurative sense.

Lampoon

WORD OF THE DAY

lampoon / verb / lam-POON

Definition

1: to make the subject of a satire 

2: ridicule

Examples

"From 'Seinfeld' to 'Veep,' I think [Julia] Louis-Dreyfus' greatness lies in her ability to savagely skewer the ridiculousness of the men around her while simultaneously lampooning herself." 

— Jake Coyle, The Washington Post, 12 Feb. 2020

"Ultimately, Craig, a struggling mystery writer, comes up with what he thinks is the perfect crime, but not quite with the results he expected. That's the premise behind Nick Hall's Dead Wrong…. As a playwright, Hall isn't afraid to lampoon the most hallowed gimmicks and creates a clever mystery about a man living off his wife's fortune, a man who plans the perfect murder." 

— Richard Hutton, The Fort Erie Post (Ontario, Canada), 12 Feb. 2020

Did You Know?

Lampoon can be a noun or a verb. The noun lampoon (meaning "satire" or, specifically, "a harsh satire usually directed against an individual") was first used in English in the 17th century and is still found in use, especially in the names of humor publications such as The Harvard Lampoon. 

Both the noun and the verb come from the French lampon, which probably originated from lampons, the first person plural imperative of the verb lamper, meaning "to guzzle." 

So what is the connection? Lampons! (meaning "Let us guzzle!") was a frequent refrain in 17th-century French satirical poems.

Gibe

WORD OF THE DAY

gibe / verb / JYBE

Definition

1: to utter taunting words

2: to deride or tease with taunting words

Examples

"My PR firm introduced Tom and me, and I came ready to impress. I had read every piece he had written in the last five years. I playfully gibed him about obscure predictions he had made years ago in other articles, and was prepared to thoughtfully discuss his most recent column." 

— Keith Ferrazzi, Never Eat Alone, 2005

"'Anybody who complains about the microphone,' she gibed, is not having a good night.'" 

— Mark Z. Barabak et al., The Los Angeles Times, 27 Sept. 2016

Did You Know?

Confused about jibe and gibe? The distinction actually isn't as clear-cut as some commentators would like it to be. 

Jibe is used both for the verb meaning "to be in accord" or "agree" (as in "the results do not jibe with those from other studies") and for the nautical verb and noun referring to the act of shifting a sail from one side to the other ("jibe the mainsail," "a risky jibe in heavy seas"). 

Gibe is used as a verb and noun for derisive teasing or taunting. But jibe is also a recognized variant of gibe, so it too has teasing or taunting uses. Gibe has been used occasionally as a variant of jibe, but the use is not common enough to warrant dictionary entry, and is widely considered an error.

Timorous

WORD OF THE DAY

timorous / adjective / TIM-uh-rus

Definition

1a: of a timid disposition 

1b: fearful

2: expressing or suggesting timidity

Examples

The study suggests that timorous people suffer from stress more frequently than their bolder peers.

"Perhaps most disappointing was the 1935 'Mosaic Quartet'…, a collection of five short movements that the performers can play and repeat in whatever order they choose. It's the kind of innovation that sounds intriguing in theory, but … they felt mild and even timorous in comparison with Cage's much wilder spirit." 

— Joshua Kosman, The San Francisco Chronicle, 20 Jan. 2020

Did You Know?

Timid and timorous don't just have similar spellings and meanings; they are etymologically related as well. Both words ultimately derive from the Latin verb timēre, meaning "to fear." 

The immediate ancestor of timid is Latin timidus (with the same meaning as timid), whereas timorous traveled to Middle English by way of the Latin noun timor ("fear") and the Medieval Latin adjective timorosus. 

Timid may be the more common of the two words, but timorous is older. It first appeared in English in the mid-15th century; timid came on the scene a century later. Both words can mean "easily frightened" (as in "a timid mouse" or "a timorous child") as well as "indicating or characterized by fear" (as in "he gave a timid smile" or "she took a timorous step forward").

Welkin

WORD OF THE DAY

welkin / noun /  WEL-kin

Definition

1a: the vault of the sky 

1b: firmament

1c: the celestial abode of God or the gods 

1d: heaven

2: the upper atmosphere

Examples

"If you stand in the trees you might see … owls, vibrant red cardinals and goldfinches lift into the welkin." 

— Emily Clark, The Carver Reporter (Plymouth, Massachusetts), 25 June 2018

"The night was dim, but not dark; no moon shone, but the stars, wan though frequent, gleamed pale, as from the farthest deeps of the heaven; clouds grey and fleecy rolled slowly across the welkin, veiling and disclosing, by turns, the melancholy orbs." 

— Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Harold, The Last of the Saxons Kings, 1848

Did You Know?

When it comes to welkin, the sky's the limit. This heavenly word has been used in English to refer to the vault of the sky for centuries, and it derives from an Old English or the German Wolke word meaning "cloud"   

In current English, welkin is still flying high, and it is often teamed with the verb ring to suggest a loud noise or an exuberant expression of emotion, as in "the welkin rang with the sound of the orchestra" or "her hearty laugh made the welkin ring." 

These contemporary phrases echo an older use—the original words of a carol that once began "Hark, how all the welkin ring," which we now know as "Hark! The herald angels sing."

Fusty

WORD OF THE DAY

fusty /adjective / FUSS-tee

Definition
1(British) a: impaired by age or dampness
1b: moldy
2a: saturated with dust and stale odors
2b: musty
3: rigidly old-fashioned or reactionary

Examples
"She was there as an intermediary to translate the fusty old world of politics to a feisty new generation."
— Stephanie Ebbert, The Boston Globe, 13 Jan. 2020

"In a city facing the extinction of that rather prickly creature known as fine dining, it's nice to take a seat at GOMA and get properly coddled. Not, as you might be thinking, in a 1980-something, musty, fusty, rigid kind of way. But it has linen on the table, gorgeous crockery and service that's slick and glossy—almost formal, but not quite."
— Tony Harper, The Brisbane (Australia) News, 12 Feb. 2020

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.

Viridity

WORD OF THE DAY

viridity / noun / vuh-RID-uh-tee

Definition
1a: the quality or state of being green
1b: the color of grass or foliage
2: naive innocence

Examples
The bright colors of spring training baseball, with its blue Florida skies and the viridity of its playing fields, annually gave Roger hope and comfort after a bleak New England winter.

"Many single people wish they had a partner. Many married people wish they were single again. Oh, that grass, that fence, that trick of the light that alters the intensity of the viridity. We want what we haven't got."
— Oscar Cainer, The Scottish Daily Mail, 9 Sept. 2016

Did You Know?
Viridity is simply a highfalutin way to say "greenness" in both its literal and figurative senses.
Greenness goes all the way back to Old English grēnnes, from grēne ("green"), a word akin to Old English grōwan ("to grow").
Viridity did not enter the language until the 15th century, when it was adopted into Middle English as viridite. The ultimate source of viridity is Latin viriditas ("greenness"), itself drawn from the root viridis ("green").
Viridis is also the source (by way of Middle French verdoyant) of English verdant, as well as verdancy, yet another fancy synonym for "greenness."

Abbreviate

WORD OF THE DAY

abbreviate / verb / uh-BREE-vee-ayt

Definition
: to make briefer; especially : to reduce (a word or name) to a shorter form intended to stand for the whole

Examples
Due to time constraints, the last speaker at the ceremony had to abbreviate her speech.

"New Mexico's legislative sessions are abbreviated from 60 to 30 days in even years and limited in the scope of what can be considered."
— Patrick Kulp, Adweek.com, 9 Jan. 2020

Did You Know?
Abbreviate and abridge both mean "to make shorter," so it probably will come as no surprise that both derive from the Latin verb brevis, meaning "short."
Abbreviate first appeared in print in English in the 15th century and derives from abbreviātus, the past participle of Late Latin abbreviāre, which in turn can be traced back to brevis.
Abridge, which appeared a century earlier, also comes from abbreviāre but took a side trip through the Anglo-French abreger before arriving in Middle English as abreggen.
Brevis is also the ancestor of English brief itself, as well as brevity and breviary ("a prayer book" or "a brief summary"), among other words.

Crwth

WORD OF THE DAY

crwth /noun / KROOTH

Definition
: an ancient Celtic stringed instrument that is plucked or bowed

Examples
An Irish journeyman is expected to perform at the St. Patrick's Day celebration; he is an accomplished player of the hornpipe and crwth.

"Rae embarked on her first journey into songwriting and multi-instrumentalism with If Only I Could Fly [May 2013], featuring her prowess on fiddle, vocals, guitar and the crwth…."
— Emeraldrae.com

Did You Know?
Crwth, which comes to us from Welsh, is the name for an ancient Celtic instrument that is similar to a violin. In Middle English, the instrument's name was spelled crouth before metamorphosing to crowd, a word still used in some dialects of England to refer to a violin.
Crwth can also refer to a swelling or bulging body, and we can speculate that it came to be used for the instrument because of the violin's bulging form. Other Celtic words for the violin also have meanings referring to rounded shapes.
In Gaelic, for example, cruit can mean "harp" or "violin" as well as "hump" or "hunch."

Palpate

WORD OF THE DAY

palpate / verb / PAL-payt

Definition

: to examine by touch especially medically

Examples

"Therapy, though, felt different to me. I found performing a concrete task with specific steps, such as palpating an abdomen or starting an IV, less nerve-racking than figuring out how to apply the numerous abstract psychological theories I'd studied over the past several years to the hundreds of possible scenarios that any one therapy patient might present." 

— Lori Gottlieb, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, 2019

"A heel spur is a hard and usually painful area in the back of the heel where the Achilles tendon attaches itself to the heel bone. When the area is examined and palpated, there is a feeling of hard bone rather than the soft suppleness of the Achilles tendon." 

— Robbert Weiss, The Fairfield (Connecticut) Citizen, 29 Jan 2020

Did You Know?

Palpate has been part of the English language since the 19th century. 

It was probably coined from the preexisting noun form palpation, which itself traces back to the Latin verb palpare, meaning "to stroke or caress." 

Other descendants of palpare in English include palpable (an adjective that might describe a tense moment that can be "felt"), palpitate (what the heart does when it beats so hard that it can be felt through the chest), and the verb palp ("to touch or feel"). 

Even feel itself is a distant cousin of palpitate, as both words can be linked to the same ancient root word that gave Latin palpare.

Hoise

WORD OF THE DAY

hoise / verb / HOYZ

Definition

: lift, raise

: to raise into position by or as if by means of tackle

Examples

"The closest Brennan has come to hoising the AHL's holy grail has been the conference finals on a couple of occasions, most recently with the Toronto Marlies."

— Dave Isaac, The Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ), 5 May 2018 

„The 6-foot-3, 228-pound Ole Miss receiver ran a 4.33 40-yard dash, posted a 40.5 inch vertical and hoised 225 pounds on the bench 27 times."

 — James Koh, The Daily News (New York), 6 Mar 2019

Did You Know?

The connection between hoise and hoist is a bit confusing. The two words are essentially synonymous variants, but hoist is far more common; hoise and its inflected forms hoised and hoising are infrequently used. 

But a variant of its past participle shows up fairly frequently as part of a set expression. And now, here's the confusing part: that variant past participle is hoist! 

The expression is „hoist with (or by) one’s own petard," which means "victimized or hurt by one's own scheme." This oft-heard phrase owes its popularity to William Shakespeare's Hamlet in which the titular character says, 

"For 'tis the sport to have the engineer hoist with his own petar[d]." (A petard is a medieval explosive. The quote implies that the engineer—the person who sets the explosive device—is blown into the air by the explosion of his own device.)

Minutia

WORD OF THE DAY

minutia / noun / muh-NOO-shee-uh

Definition

: a minute or minor detail — usually used in plural

Examples

The book argues that it is easy to get bogged down in the minutiae of everyday life and fail to notice important opportunities.

"Bart has the soul of an artist, but his mind is like this steel trap of information that has details on everything from the minutia of legislation to the lyrics of every hit song that's ever been written." 

— Beckie Foster, quoted in The Tennessean, 10 Nov. 2019

Did You Know?

Minutia was borrowed into English in the 18th century from the Latin plural noun minutiae, meaning "trifles" or "details," and derived from the singular noun minutia, meaning "smallness." 

In English, minutia is most often used in the plural as either minutiae (pronounced \muh-NOO-shee-ee) or, on occasion, as simply minutia. 

The Latin minutia, incidentally, comes from minutus, an adjective meaning "small" that was created from the verb minuere, meaning "to lessen." 

A familiar descendant of minutus is minute

Retronym

WORD OF THE DAY

retronym / noun / RET-roh-nim

Definition

: a term (such as analog watch, film camera, or snail mail) that is newly created and adopted to distinguish the original or older version, form, or example of something (such as a product) from other, more recent versions, forms, or examples

Examples

"… first came paperback book, differentiated from a book with a cloth or leather binding, provoking the retronym hardcover book." 

—William Safire, The New York Times Magazine, 18 Nov 2007

"You can get a good sense of the pace of change over the past century just by looking at the retronyms we've accumulated. New technologies have forced us to come up with terms like steam locomotive, silent movie, manual transmission, AM radio, day baseball, conventional oven, and acoustic guitar." 

— Geoffrey Nunberg, Going Nucular: Language, Politics, and Culture in Confrontational Times, 2004

Did You Know?

Remember way back when cameras used film? Back then, such devices were simply called cameras; they weren't specifically called film cameras until they needed to be distinguished from the digital cameras that came later. 

Similarly, the term desktop computer wasn't often used until laptops became prevalent. 

A lot of our common retronyms have come about due to technological advances: acoustic guitar emerged to contrast with electric guitar, and brick-and-mortar store to distinguish traditional stores from online retailers. 

Retronym was coined by Frank Mankiewicz, an American journalist and former president of National Public Radio, and was first seen in print in 1980.

Byzantine

WORD OF THE DAY 

Byzantine / adjective / BIZ-un-teen

Definition

1: of, relating to, or characteristic of the ancient city of Byzantium

2 (architecture): of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a style of architecture developed in the Byzantine Empire especially in the fifth and sixth centuries featuring the dome carried on pendentives over a square and incrustation with marble veneering and with colored mosaics on grounds of gold

3 (Christianity): of or relating to the churches using a traditional Greek rite and subject to Eastern cNon law

4a (often not capitalized):of, relating to, or characterized by a devious and usually surreptitious manner of operation

4b: intricately involved 

4c: labyrinthine 

Examples

"Unlike most Greek Orthodox churches in the U.S., though, St. Anna won't have a traditional Byzantine dome. While that might seem unusual, Savas said, it's hardly unheard of—there are churches in Greece that were built without that architectural feature." 

— Kathy Stephenson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 1 Feb., 2020

„Following chases through small byzantine alleys and tiny Casbah-influences streets, makes you feel so … James Bond-like!"

— Cassandra Emp-Parslns, The Herald-Didpatch (Huntington West Virginia), 5 Feb. 2020

Did You Know?

Today, the city that lies on the Bosporus Strait in Turkey is named Istanbul, it was once known as Constantinople (a name given to it when it became the capital of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire), and in ancient times, it was called Byzantium. 

Its history is exotic—filled with mystics, wars, and political infighting—and over time the word Byzantine (from Late Latin Byzantinus, the name for a native of Byzantium) became synonymous with anything characteristic of the city or empire, from architecture to intrigue. 

The figurative sense referring to a devious manner of operation first appeared in the late 1930s. It was popularized by frequent use in reference to the Soviet Union, whose secrecy and despotism  were equated by Westerners with what went on in the old Byzantine Empire.

Escapade

WORD OF THE DAY

escapade / noun / ESS-kuh-payd

Definition

: a usually adventurous action that runs counter to approved or conventional conduct

Examples

"There was a report that people with spotlights were turning picnic tables on their end and using them for snow escapades on Pine Street and West Second Street in Cle Elum." 

— The Daily Record (Ellensburg, Washington), 22 Jan. 2020

"There was a dramatic escalation in the Senate's milk-drinking escapades. We've written about the trial rules limiting beverage consumption in the Senate chamber to just milk and water, and over the past week several senators have been spotted drinking regular milk at their desks. On Tuesday, Senator Mitt Romney, an important vote in the trial, took it to another level: He brought a bottle of chocolate milk." 

— Noah Weiland, The New York Times, 28 Jan. 2020

Did You Know?

When it was first used in English, escapade referred to an act of escaping or fleeing from confinement or restraint. The relationship between escape and escapade does not end there. 

Both words derive from the Vulgar Latin verb excappare, meaning "to escape," a product of the Latin prefix ex- and the Late Latin noun cappa, meaning "head covering or cloak." 

While escape took its route through Anglo-French and Middle English, however, escapade made its way into English by way of the Spanish escapar ("to escape") and the French escapade.

Devise

WORD OF THE DAY

devise / verb / dih-VYZE

Definition
1a: to form in the mind by new combinations or applications of ideas or principles
1c: invent
1d: to plan to obtain or bring about
1e: 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 and her works of fantasy and science fiction.

"There are efforts to devise an FDA-approved method for diagnosing concussion, including new blood tests, advanced brain scans, and systems that use artificial intelligence to read them."
— Scott Eden, Men's Health, 12 Dec. 2019

Did You Know?
There's something inventive about devise, a word that stems from Latin dividere, meaning "to divide."
By the time devise began being used in early Middle English, its Anglo-French forebear deviser had accumulated an array of senses, including "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, such as "imagine," "guess," "pretend," and "describe."
In modern use, we've disposed of a lot of the old meanings, but we have kept the one that applies to wills; devise has traditionally referred to the transfer of real property (land), and bequeath to personal property.
These days, this devise is most often recognized as applying generally to all the property in a person's estate.

Oleaginous

WORD OF THE DAY

oleaginous / adjective / oh-lee-AJ-uh-nus

Definition
1: resembling or having the properties of oil
2: oily
3: containing or producing oil
4 : marked by an offensively ingratiating manner or quality

Examples
The clerk's charm is in the eye of the beholder: where some see a quick smile and ready compliment, others see an oleaginous demeanor.

"The antagonists (calling them villains would go too far) were superbly embodied by Catherine Cook as Marcellina …, Greg Fedderly as the oleaginous Basilio, and James Creswell as Dr. Bartolo…."
— Joshua Kosman, The San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Oct. 2019

Did You Know?
The oily oleaginous slipped into English via Middle French oleagineux, coming from Latin oleagineus, meaning "of an olive tree."
Oleagineus itself is from Latin olea, meaning "olive tree," and ultimately from Greek elaia, meaning "olive."
Oleaginous was at first used in a literal sense, as it still can be. An oleaginous substance is simply oily, and an oleaginous plant produces oil.
The word took on its extended "ingratiating" sense in the 19th century.

Filch

WORD OF THE DAY

filch / verb / FILCH

Definition
: to steal secretly or casually

Examples
"Last November, thieves broke into a jewel room at the Royal Palace in Dresden, Germany, and took off with an array of precious jewelry…. One piece they failed to filch, however, was the Dresden Green, an elaborate diamond hat pin crafted around an extremely rare, almond-shaped celadon-green diamond."
— Sebastian Smee, The Washington Post, 10 Jan. 2020

"The family that lived there previously had been in it for 50 years, so it hadn't been abandoned like so many other fixer-uppers near downtown. That was good news because many of the home's small treasures—vintage glass doorknobs, wall sconces—hadn't been filched or damaged."
— Richard A. Marini, The Houston Chronicle, 18 Aug. 2019

Did You Know?
"I am glad I am so acquit of this tinder-box: his thefts were too open; his filching was like an unskilful singer—he kept not time." So says Falstaff in William Shakespeare's play The Merry Wives of Windsor.
The Bard was fond of filch in both its literal and figurative uses; Iago, for example, says to Othello, "But he that filches from me my good name / Robs me of that which not enriches him / And makes me poor indeed." Filch derives from the Middle English word filchen ("to attack" or "to steal") and perhaps from Old English gefylce ("band of men, troop, army").
As a noun, filch once referred to a hooked staff used by thieves to snatch articles out of windows and from similar places, but this use is now obsolete.

Albeit

WORD OF THE DAY

albeit / conjunction / awl-BEE-it

Definition
1: even though
2: although

Examples
Kara's big break as an actress came in a big-budget Academy Award-nominated movie, albeit in a minor role where she played a hotel clerk.

"He admitted hitting a home run at Wrigley was 'a dream come true,' albeit with a big twist. Originally the dream had him wearing a Cubs uniform."
— Paul Sullivan, The Chicago Tribune, 19 June 2019

Did You Know?
Albeit dates to the 14th century and comes from a Middle English word meaning, literally, "all (or completely) though it be."
Its heritage is clear in its pronunciation, which is as though it were three words instead of one: all, be, it. In the early 20th century, albeit was accused of being archaic. That descriptor was never quite accurate; the word had mostly been holding steady at "not-terribly-common" since at least the mid-18th century.
When albeit began to see a marked increase in use in the mid-20th century, several usage commentators proclaimed that it was making a comeback, and its "archaic" descriptor was fully recognized as no longer apt.

Rectitudinous

WORD OF THE DAY

rectitudinous / adjective / rek-tuh-TOO-duh-nus

Definition
1: characterized by the quality of being honest and morally correct
2: piously self-righteous

Examples
The senatorial candidate's supporters insist that he is possessed of a rectitudinous character and a spotless record.

"In a personal boycott of the Mongol regime, with its prejudicial attitude toward many native-born Chinese scholars, Ni took to living a fugitive's life on houseboat, always on the move, painting soundless little vistas of river and sky, with thin bare trees standing as symbols of his own rectitudinous isolation."
— Holland Cotter, The New York Times, 30 Sept. 2010

Did You Know?
Rectitudinous comes to us straight from Late Latin rectitudin-, rectitudo (English added the -ous ending), which itself ultimately derives from the Latin word rectus, meaning both "straight" and "right." (Other rectus descendants in English include rectitude, of course, and rectilinear, rectangle, and rectify.)
In one of its earliest known print appearances, in the year 1897, it was used in the phrase "notoriously and unctuously rectitudinous."
Although rectitude often expresses an admirable moral integrity, rectitudinous has always had a less flattering side.
It can suggest not only moral uprightness but also a displeasing holier-than-thou attitude.

Perquisite

WORD OF THE DAY

perquisite / noun / PER-kwuh-zut

Definition
1a: a privilege, gain, or profit incidental to regular salary or wages; especially
1b: one expected or promised
2: gratuity, tip
3: something held or claimed as an exclusive right or possession

Examples
One of the job's perquisites is use of a company car.

"American consumers want choices, employers like using health insurance as a perquisite and competition improves efficiency."
— Chris Tomlinson, The Houston Chronicle, 15 Dec. 2019

Did You Know?
Looking to acquire a job loaded with perquisites, or "perks" (a synonym of perquisites)? Don't give up the search! Make plenty of inquiries, send out an exquisitely crafted resume, and follow up with queries.
Your quest may result in your conquering of the job market. After all, today's word perquisite derives from Latin perquirere, which means "to search for thoroughly."
That Latin word, in turn, is from the verb quaerere, meaning "to ask" or "to seek." Seven other words in this paragraph are from quaerere as well—acquire, inquiries, exquisitely, queries, conquering, quest, and, of course, perk (which was formed by shortening and altering perquisite).