Herald

 WORD OF THE DAY

herald / verb / HAIR-uld

Definition
1a: to give notice of
1b: announce
2a: to greet especially with enthusiasm
2b: hail
2c: publicize
3a: to signal the approach of
3b: foreshadow

Examples

The appearance of robins heralded the arrival of spring.

"The amount of money invested into U.K. tech companies has almost doubled in the past six months, heralding what prime minister Boris Johnson says could be a 'record-breaking year in 2021.'"
— Ollie Williams, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2021

Did You Know?
While herald the verb is more common today, herald the noun is older. When the word was first used in the early 14th century, it referred to an official at a tournament (one of those knightly sporting events the Middle Ages are famous for); the herald's duties included making announcements, hence the word's uses relating to announcements, literal and metaphorical.
The word is ultimately Germanic in origin, coming from a long-lost word that can be translated as "one directing or having authority over a body of armed men," though like so many words of 14th century vintage, it came to English by way of Anglo-French.
The resemblance between herald and the name Harold is not coincidental: Harold is a modern form of Chariovalda, the name of a 1st century C.E. leader of the Batavi, a tribe who lived on the lower Rhine. The Germanic source of Chariovalda, turned into a generic noun, is also the source of herald.

Amicable

 WORD OF THE DAY

amicable / adjective / AM-ih-kuh-bul

Definition
1: characterized by friendly goodwill
2: peaceable

Examples
"Those two weeks in the high country passed with the most amicable feeling between us, and it was not until the last day that Layton showed the unpleasant side of his personality that we all knew existed."
— Shannon Burke, Into the Savage Country, 2015

"While neither Kardashian nor West has talked publicly about the split, a source told Us following the filing that their separation was amicable and they both knew it was coming."
— Sophia Vilensky, Us Weekly, 4 Mar. 2021

Did You Know?
Amicable showed up in the English language in the 15th century, ushered in by writers who had such a love of Latin that they were using a literary form of the language, now called Late Latin, when all the other Latin speakers were using Vulgar Latin, that is the nonliterary Latin that eventually developed into the Romance languages.
The Late Latin root of amicable is amīcābilis, meaning "friendly," and when amicable was introduced to English it was moving into semantic territory that friendly had occupied for some 400 years.
But English has always been magnanimous about accepting newcomers.
As is so often the case with Latin-derived synonyms, the new word became the more formal term—it's most often used to describe agreements and relationships—while the old tried-and-true word retained its broad use.

Impresario

 WORD OF THE DAY

impresario / noun / im-pruh-SAHR-ee-oh

Definition
1: the promoter, manager, or conductor of an opera or concert company
2: a person who puts on or sponsors an entertainment (such as a television show or sports event)
3: manager, director

Examples
The former heavyweight retired from the ring and later became a boxing impresario.

"Not only has he amassed more than 7.5 million views, the new poster boy for sailors' working songs has attracted a celebrity fan base, with musical impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber even recording himself singing along."
— Katie Grant, iNews.co.uk (London), 21 Jan. 2021

Did You Know?
English borrowed impresario directly from Italian, whose noun impresa means "undertaking."
A close relative is the English word emprise ("an adventurous, daring, or chivalric enterprise"), which, like impresario, traces back to the Latin verb prehendere, meaning "to seize." (That verb is also the source of apprehend, comprehend, and prehensile.)
English speakers were impressed enough with impresario to borrow it in the 1700s, at first using it, as the Italians did, especially of opera company managers.
It should be noted that, despite their apparent similarities, impress and impresario are not related. Impress is a descendant of the Latin pressare, a form of the verb premere, which means "to press."

Rococo

 WORD OF THE DAY

rococo / adjective /ruh-KOH-koh

Definition
1a: of or relating to an artistic style especially of the 18th century characterized by fanciful curved asymmetrical forms and elaborate ornamentation
1b: of or relating to an 18th century musical style marked by light gay ornamentation and departure from thoroughbass and polyphony
2: excessively ornate or intricate

Examples
Among the items being auctioned off is a beautiful set of six chairs carved in a rococo style.

"Like most outdoor theater, it is as much about the experience of being in the open air as it is about the performance, and the evening I went, there were other things to take in: propeller planes humming by overhead, mammoth dragonflies swooping low, the crazy rococo pink of the wispy sunset clouds."
— Laura Collins-Hughes, The New York Times, 14 Aug. 2019

Did You Know?
In the 18th century, French artists rebelled against the ponderousness of baroque style and began to create light, delicate interior decorations, furniture, and architectural elements characterized by fanciful, curved, asymmetrical forms and elaborate ornamentation.
The name of their new style, rococo, has been traced to the French rocaille, a term that evoked the ornamental use of rock and shell forms.
In time, rococo was also applied to similarly ornamented and intimate styles of painting and music.
But all fashions fade, and by the mid-1800s the rococo style was deemed excessively ornate and out-of-date. Now rococo is often used with mild disdain to describe the overly elaborate.

Epicure

 WORD OF THE DAY

epicure / noun / EP-ih-kyur

Definition
: one with sensitive and discriminating tastes especially in food or wine

Examples
"At the back of the shop, Atwell and his apprentice, former chef Ryan Perrier, sharpen upwards of 3,500 blades a year on Japanese whetstones for a range of customers, including local chefs and at-home epicures."
— Sara Anne Donnelly, Down East, June 2020

"Tucci has long been a masterful actor, but he has more recently unlocked a second career as an epicure and an object of internet thirst.… Searching for Italy, then, is a gift, equally wholesome in intention—Tucci tours Italy and explores how its food intermingles with its history—and knowing in subtext."
— Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2021

Did You Know?
The word epicure is currently associated with indulging the appetite, but that is a long way from the teachings of the man to whom we owe the word.
The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus taught a philosophy of simple pleasure, friendship, and a secluded life.
He believed in the pursuit of pleasure, but pleasure for him comprised tranquility and freedom from pain—not the indulgence of the senses.
Detractors of Epicurus in his own time and later, however, reduced his notions of pleasure to material and sensual gratification.
When epicure entered English in the 16th century, it was synonymous with the modern term hedonist; later use carried the notion of refinement of palate that we see in the word today.

Bogart

 WORD OF THE DAY

bogart / verb / BOH-gahrt

Definition
1a: to cause (someone) to do something by means of force or coercion
1b: bully
2: to use the entirety of or consume without sharing

Examples
"At the end of a long day, it's tempting to dive into your social feeds or Netflix queue the minute you've finished eating. But back before screens bogarted all our free time, an after-dinner stroll was a popular activity and one associated with improved health and digestion."
— Markham Reid, Time, 26 Sept. 2018

"'Are you a woman or a detective?' Wellington asks during, like, his millionth bout of frustration. 'Why should there be a distinction?' Eliza retorts, and this riposte-free game continues to go round and round, with Eliza bogarting clues and dancing a few steps ahead of him at every turn."
— Melanie McFarland, Salon, 17 Jan. 2021

Did You Know?
The legendary film actor Humphrey Bogart was known for playing a range of tough characters in a series of films throughout the 1940s and 1950s, including "The Maltese Falcon", "Casablanca", and "The African Queen."
The men he portrayed often possessed a cool, hardened exterior that occasionally let forth a suggestion of romantic or idealistic sentimentality. Bogart also had a unique method of smoking cigarettes in these pictures—letting the butt dangle from his mouth without removing it until it was almost entirely consumed.
It is believed that this habit inspired the current meaning of bogart, which was once limited to the phrase "Don't bogart that joint [=marijuana cigarette]," as popularized by a song on the soundtrack to the film Easy Rider.
Today, bogart can be applied to hogging almost anything.

Ebullient

 WORD OF THE DAY

ebullient / adjective / ih-BULL-yunt

Definition
1: boiling, agitated
2 : characterized by ebullience : having or showing liveliness and enthusiasm

Examples
"Coach Kristen Kirkman, who guided the Bulldogs' boys and girls, is ebullient about her junior class, which she hopes can take the program even beyond last season's Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association finishes of fifth for boys and fourth for girls."
— Sonny Dearth, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia), 14 Jan. 2021

"Born and raised in Fredericton, New Brunswick, the ebullient O'Ree had a very brief NHL playing career…. A goodwill ambassador for the league for the better part of the last quarter-century, he was the first player of African heritage to play in the NHL when he suited up for the Bruins on Jan. 18, 1958, for a weekend series vs. the Canadiens."
— Kevin Paul Dupont, MSN.com, 12 Jan. 2021

Did You Know?
Someone who is ebullient is bubbling over with enthusiasm, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that ebullient derives from the Latin verb ebullire, which means "to bubble out."
When ebullient was first used in the late 1500s its meaning hewed closely to its Latin source: ebullient meant "boiling" or "bubbling," and described things like boiling water and boiling oil.
Only later did the word's meaning broaden to encompass emotional agitation as well as the roiling of a boiling liquid.

Touchstone

 WORD OF THE DAY

touchstone / noun / TUTCH-stohn

Definition
1a: a fundamental or quintessential part or feature
1b: basis
2: a test or criterion for determining the quality or genuineness of a thing
3: a black siliceous stone related to flint and used to test the purity of gold and formerly silver by the streak left on the stone when rubbed by the metal

Examples
"Reviewers mocked the movie 'Love Story,' but it was among the biggest box office hits of its time and became a cultural touchstone, especially for the catchphrase 'Love means never having to say you're sorry.'"
— Hillel Italie, The Associated Press, 18 Feb. 2021

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was an immediate success; over the 150-plus years since it has never gone out of print, remaining a touchstone of children's literature."
— Eve Watling, The Independent (United Kingdom), 17 Mar. 2021

Did You Know?
Since the early 16th century, touchstone has referred to a particular kind of siliceous stone (that is, stone containing silica) used to do a particular job: determine the purity of precious metals.
The process involves comparing marks made by rubbing a sample of a metal of known purity to marks made by a metal of unknown purity.
The method is accurate enough in the case of determining the purity of gold that it is still in use today. Figurative use extended from this literal use, with touchstone functioning as a word for a test or criterion to determine the quality of a thing, and later to refer to a fundamental or quintessential part or feature of something.

Adulate

 WORD OF THE DAY

adulate / verb / AJ-uh-layt

Definition
1a: to praise effusively and slavishly
1b: flatter excessively
1c: fawn upon
1d: to pay homage to without exercising a critical sense of values
2: to admire or be devoted to abjectly and excessively

Examples
A portrait of the family patriarch, a man adulated by the public but generally feared by his family, hung above the mantle.

"At his career's start, Elvis Presley was feted as a musical pioneer and adulated by millions of adoring fans captivated by his onstage charisma. But by 1968, musical tastes had changed drastically. "
— Eric Marchese, The Orange County (California) Register, 11 Jan. 2018

Did You Know?
Man's best friend is often thought of in admiring terms as faithful and true, but there are also people who more clearly perceive the fawning and cringing aspect of doggishness.
When the Romans used the Latin verb adūlārī to mean "to fawn on," they equated it with the behavior of a dog toward its master.
The noun adulation—meaning "exhibition of excessive fondness" (similar in meaning but not etymologically related to adoration)—was first to develop in English, settling into the language in the 15th century.
The adjective adulatory followed in the late 16th century (an adulatory speech, for example, is an excessively flattering one), and the verb adulate was being called into service by the early 17th century.

Chlamys

 WORD OF THE DAY

chlamys / noun / KLAM-us

Definition
: a short oblong mantle worn by young men of ancient Greece

Examples
"Perhaps her effect on him was as despotic and intoxicating as the poets claimed. Rumors reached Rome that he had abandoned his toga for the Greek chlamys; that she reviewed his troops with a bodyguard of Praetorians; that he followed her litter humbly on foot…."
— Judith Thurman, Cleopatra's Nose, 2007

"Ann Moore displays a black-and-white photo in a 1953 issue of Vogue magazine of a woman modeling an elegant silk taffeta chlamys with beading and rhinestones."
— Shelia M. Poole, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1 Sept. 2016

Did You Know?
If you had been a man of ancient Greece, you'd likely have worn a chlamys from time to time.
This cloak was a short, oblong mantle, typically made of dark wool, and worn draped over the left shoulder and fastened with a fibula at the right shoulder, leaving the right arm uncovered.
The chlamys was popular especially among soldiers and messengers.
Modern encounters with the chlamys are most likely to occur at museums where a statue of the messenger god Hermes or the Greco-Roman god Apollo might be seen garbed in such.
As deities frequently on the move, these two would have appreciated the fact that the garment provided both protection from the elements and freedom of movement.

Lodestone

WORD OF THE DAY

lodestone / noun / LOHD-stohn

Definition
1: magnetite possessing polarity
2: something that strongly attracts

Examples
"… the city was a lodestone of rock-and-roll and rhythm-and-blues innovation."
— John Beifuss, The Memphis (Tennessee) Commercial Appeal, 2 Nov. 2020

"[Britney] Spears … became a vessel for our intense emotions, but in the process, she would also become a lodestone for criticism of an entire generation's tastes and habits."
— Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 17 Feb. 2021

Did You Know?
Lodestone is made up of distinctly English components, ones that have been part of our language since before the 12th century.
Lode comes from the Old English lād, which means "way, journey, course." The word stone derives from the Old English stān, which had the same meaning as the modern term stone.
When the two ancient words were combined to form lodestone in the early 16th century, the new term referred to magnetite, a magnetic iron ore.
Just as a new business district might be a magnet for entrepreneurs, or a poor soul a magnet for bad luck, lodestone sees similar figurative use describing things with a seeming power to attract.

Obstreperous

 WORD OF THE DAY

obstreperous / adjective / ub-STREP-uh-rus

Definition
1a: marked by unruly or aggressive noisiness
1b: clamorous
2a: stubbornly resistant to control
2b: unruly

Examples
"Throughout a long career, [Lawrence Ferlinghetti] showed courage, taste and willingness to put up with sometimes obstreperous writers for the sake of literature. He first won widespread renown by publishing Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl' and defending the book in a court case in 1957 when it was declared obscene."
— Benjamin Ivry, The Forward (New York), 24 Feb. 2021

"In Hollywood, [Eugene DeMarco had] gained renown as a barnstorming stunt pilot in films and commercials.... Within the small but global community of antique-aviation buffs, he continues to be held in awe, considered by many to be the most accomplished flier of dangerously obstreperous World War I airplanes."
— Marc Wortman, Vanity Fair, March 2021

Did You Know?
The handy Latin prefix ob-, meaning "in the way," "against," or "toward," occurs in many Latin and English words.
Obstreperous comes from ob- plus strepere, a verb meaning "to make a noise," so someone who is obstreperous can be thought of as literally making noise to rebel against something, much like a protesting crowd or an unruly child.
The word has been used in English since around the beginning of the 17th century.
Strepere has had a limited impact on the English lexicon; in addition to obstreperous it seems only to have contributed strepitous and its synonym strepitant, which mean "characterized or accompanied by much noise"—that is, "noisy." 
Ob- words, on the other hand, abound, and include such terms as obnoxious, occasion, offend, omit, oppress, and oust.

Discomfit

 WORD OF THE DAY

discomfit / verb / diss-KUM-fit

Definition
1a: to put into a state of perplexity and embarrassment
1b: disconcert
2: to frustrate the plans of
2b: thwart
2c (archaic): to defeat in battle

Examples
Jacob was discomfited by the new employee's forward, probing questions.

"Upon entering the theater, the audience is immediately discomfited by the set; it is a portrait of devastation. Aaron Benson’s scenic design is a beautiful and chaotic vision of decay: two towering tenements whose brick walls are stripped down to their wooden lath, with battered plaster that doubles as projection surfaces peeking between the bricks."
— Andrea Simakis, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 11 Mar. 2020

Did You Know?
Disconcerted by discomfit and discomfort? While the two look similar and share some semantic territory, they're etymologically unrelated. Unlike discomfort, discomfit has no connection to comfort, which comes ultimately from Latin com- plus fortis, meaning "strong."
Instead, discomfit was borrowed from Anglo-French in the 13th century with the meaning "to defeat in battle."
Within a couple centuries, discomfit had expanded beyond the battlefield to mean "to frustrate the plans of; to thwart," a meaning that eventually softened into the "to disconcert or confuse" use we find most often today—one quite close to the uneasiness and annoyance communicated by discomfort.
For a time, usage commentators were keen to keep a greater distance between discomfit and discomfort; they recommended that discomfit be limited to "to completely defeat; to rout," but they've largely given up now, and the "disconcert or confuse" meaning is fully established.
There is one major difference between discomfit and discomfort, though: discomfit is used almost exclusively as a verb, while discomfort is much more commonly used as a noun than a verb.

Minatory

 WORD OF THE DAY

minatory / adjective / MIN-uh-tor-ee

Definition
: having a menacing quality

Examples
"Then the squirrel seemed to notice Vinnie; to turn a minatory black eye toward him. The eye extended out from its head an inch or two on a little silvery stalk and tilted this way and that."
— John Shirley, Crawlers, 2003

"In 'Wonderland,' a retired ballerina named Orla Moreau (H.G. Wells-reference alert!) and her husband, a lifelong dilettante named Shaw, move their two young kids from Manhattan to the woods of upstate New York so he can pursue his new passion for painting. An isolated old house in December, some minatory trees in the yard—what could go wrong?"
— Bill O'Driscoll, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 20 Aug. 2020

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 minatory. 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."

Drub

 WORD OF THE DAY

drub / verb / DRUB

Definition
1 : to beat severely
2 : to berate critically
3 : to defeat decisively

Examples
Morale after the game was low: the hometown team had been drubbed by the worst team in the league.

"After getting drubbed by a combined 65 points, the Warriors beat two winless teams—Chicago and Detroit—and started to learn how they need to play."
— Wes Goldberg, The Mercury News (San Jose, California), 1 Jan. 2021

Did You Know?
Sportswriters often use drub, but the term's history reveals that it wasn't always a sporting word.
When drub was first used in English, it referred to a method of punishment that involved beating the soles of a culprit's feet with a stick or cudgel.
The term was apparently brought to England in the 17th century by travelers who reported observing the punitive practice in Asia.
The ultimate origin of drub is uncertain, but some etymologists have speculated that it may have evolved from the Arabic word ḍaraba, meaning "to beat."

Savvy

 WORD OF THE DAY

savvy / verb / SAV-ee

Definition
: to understand

Examples
"The agency's Denver office sent Siringo, who savvied some Spanish, to Santa Fe."
— Ollie Reed Jr., The Albuquerque (New Mexico) Tribune, 30 June 2001

"And kudos to Stan for the sensitivity. Savvying the tension between Ted and Peggy, Stan offers a sincere, 'Buck up chief.'"
— Marisa Nadolny, The Day (New London, Connecticut), 18 Apr. 2014

Did You Know?
While the noun savvy, meaning "practical know-how" (as in "her political savvy"), and the adjective use (as in "a savvy investor") are more common, the verb savvy is the oldest of the trio.
(If you associate it with Captain Jack Sparrow of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, you'll be pleased to know his use—as in, "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. Savvy?"—is not anachronistic; the verb was the only savvy option extant in the movies' early 18th-century setting.) 

Current evidence dates the verb savvy to the late 17th century, when English speakers altered a word—sabi, meaning "know"—they were hearing in English-based creoles and pidgins (a pidgin is a simplified language or dialect that speakers of different languages use to communicate with one another; a creole is a language that evolves from a pidgin to become a native language for a speech community). 

Sabi has its roots in Portuguese sabe, meaning "he knows," and it ultimately comes from Latin sapere, meaning "to be wise."

Brusque

 WORD OF THE DAY

brusque / adjective / BRUSK

Definition
1: markedly short and abrupt
2: blunt in manner or speech often to the point of ungracious harshness

Examples
"'Where are you getting all this?' Dinah asked, drawing startled or disapproving glances from a few who worried that she was being too brusque with the boss. 'It's only been, what, four hours?'"
— Neal Stephenson, Seveneves, 2015

"Archaeologists look down on him because of his working-class background, and his brusque manner hasn't won him many friends. He doesn't argue with those he disagrees with; he just walks away."
— Dan Lybarger, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 19 Feb. 2021

Did You Know?
We borrowed brusque from French in the 1600s. The French, in turn, had borrowed it from Italian, where it was spelled brusco and meant "tart."
And the Italian term came from bruscus, the Medieval Latin name for butcher's-broom, a shrub whose bristly leaf-like twigs have long been used for making brooms.
English speakers initially used brusque to refer to a tartness in wine, but the word soon came to denote a harsh and stiff manner, which is just what you might expect of a word bristling with associations to stiff, scratchy brooms.

Hare

 WORD OF THE DAY

hare / verb / HAIR

Definition
1: to go swiftly
2: tear

Examples
"I was just in time to see a feller in motorcycle gear pull away from the wire and run down the street. The dogs hared off after him."
— Liza Cody, Bucket Nut, 1992

"Take the recent frenzy around the Super Bowl, or more specifically, that clip of The Weeknd desperately haring around a mirror maze, wild-eyed and wobbly legged. Everyone and their dog on Twitter has been doing their best to chip in with a good 'me, when…' caption…."
— Charlie Teasdale, Esquire, 9 Feb. 2021

Did You Know?
You're most likely familiar with Aesop's fable about the speedy hare and the plodding tortoise. The hare may have lost that race due to a tactical error (stopping to take a nap before reaching the finish line), but the long-eared mammal's overall reputation for swiftness remains intact.
It's no surprise, then, that hare is used as a verb meaning "to move quickly." The noun hare (which refers, in its most specific zoological sense, to a member of the genus Lepus, whose young are usually able to hop a few minutes after birth) is a very old word.
It first appeared as hara in a Latin-Old English glossary around the year 700.
The verb was in use by the end of the 19th century, and people have been "haring off" and "haring about" ever since.

Moxie

 WORD OF THE DAY

moxie / noun / MAHK-see

Definition
1: energy, pep
2: courage, determination
3: know-how

Examples
"On offense, the Giants need more speed, more talent, more explosive plays, more creativity, more power, more moxie. More everything."
— Paul Schwartz, The New York Post, 21 Feb. 2021

"Ideally the Legislature, on a bipartisan basis, would summon the political moxie to allow robust competition between the research universities and the community colleges for baccalaureate degrees. If that's not possible, anything that allows a four-year degree to be independently offered by a community college is worth doing."
— Robert Robb, The Arizona Republic, 19 Feb. 2021

Did You Know?
"Hot roasted peanuts! Fresh popcorn! Ice-cold Moxie!" You might have heard such a snack vendor's cry at a baseball game—if you attended it in the early 1900s.
In its heyday, some claim that the soft drink named Moxie outsold Coca-Cola. The beverage was a favorite of American writer E. B. White, who wrote, "Moxie contains gentian root, which is the path to the good life. This was known in the second century before Christ and is a boon to me today."
In quick time, moxie had become a slang term for nerve and verve, perhaps because some people thought the drink was a tonic that could cure virtually any ill and bring vim back to even the most lethargic individual.

Reputation

 WORD OF THE DAY

reputation / noun / rep-yuh-TAY-shun

Definition
1a: overall quality or character as seen or judged by people in general
1b: recognition by other people of some characteristic or ability
2a: a place in public esteem or regard
2b: good name

Examples
"It takes a lot of bravery to host a global conference online for the very first time, and exhibitors needed to apply what they've learned in digital communications, reputation, how to drive online buzz, and how to create relevant engagement inside of energy-sucking platforms to stand out unlike ever before."
— Marty Swant, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2021

"Discovery has a similar rationale for Discovery+. [Chief operating officer David] Leavy said the company wanted to tap into consumers' affection for its flagship channel Discovery, which has a global reputation as a provider of adventure, exploration and nature programming. Adding the plus helps convey the wide range of unscripted fare from the company's other networks—from true crime to the guilty-pleasure reality series '90-Day Fiancé.'"
— Stephen Battaglio, The Los Angeles Times, 21 Dec. 2020

Did You Know?
For reputation, the attainment of lexical esteem begins in 14th-century Middle English in the character of reputacion, which is a borrowing of an Anglo-French word with meanings similar to the English word (referring to such things as celebrity, distinction, good name, or estimation of character).
The Anglo-French is from Latin reputation-, reputatio, meaning "consideration," and ultimately from reputare, "to reckon up or to think over."
That Latinate verb couples the well-known "again" prefix re- with the verb putare ("to reckon"). Renowned celebrities of the putare family are the verb repute ("to believe or consider"), the identical noun (synonymous with reputation), the adjectives reputable and reputed, and the adverb reputedly.
Other putare cousins of notoriety are dispute, disreputable, imputation, and putative, along with their kin.

Pertain

 WORD OF THE DAY

pertain / verb / per-TAYN

Definition
1a: to belong as a part, member, accessory, or product
1b: to belong as an attribute, feature, or function
1c: to belong as a duty or right
2: to be appropriate to something
3: to have reference

Examples
"The author's careful attention to history—especially as it pertains to the struggle creative women like Curie and Fuller faced for acceptance as creative equals to men—helps round out the text with feminist insights."
— Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2020

"Capitalism pertains to an economy that runs by voluntary contracts between citizens rather than government command and control, and that principle can bring some of the same advantages that Kant adduced for democratic republics."
— Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, 2011

Did You Know?

Pertain comes to English via Anglo-French from the Latin verb pertinēre, meaning "to reach to" or "to belong."
Pertinēre, in turn, was formed by combining the prefix per- (meaning "through") and tenēre ("to hold").
Tenēre is a popular root in English words and often manifests with the -tain spelling that can be seen in pertain.
Other descendants include abstain, contain, detain, maintain, obtain, retain, and sustain, to name a few of the more common ones.
Not every -tain word has tenēre in its ancestry, though. Ascertain, attain, and certain are among the exceptions.
And a few tenēre words don't follow the usual pattern: tenacious and tenure are two.

Exodus

 WORD OF THE DAY

exodus / noun / EK-suh-dus

Definition
1 (capitalized): the mainly narrative second book of canonical Jewish and Christian Scripture
2a: a mass departure
2b: emigration

Examples
"Much has been made of the 'Silicon Valley Exodus.' The conventional wisdom holds that the discovery of feasible remote work arrangements during this pandemic has employers—and their employees—fleeing the Bay Area for more affordable destinations."
— Sam Liccardo, The San Francisco Chronicle, 6 Feb. 2021

"Throughout the pandemic, there has been an uptick of people vacating the city in exchange for more space in the suburban and rural outskirts of the Greater Toronto Area…. According to a report from Statistics Canada, from July 2019-July 2020, Toronto saw an exodus of 50,375 people moving to other regions and provinces."
— Natasha Philpott, Bradford (Ontario) Today, 7 Feb. 2021

Did You Know?
The Biblical book of Exodus describes the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, so it's no surprise that the word has come to refer more generally to any mass departure.
The word itself was adopted into English (via Latin) from Greek Exodos, which literally means "the road out."
The Greek word was formed by combining the prefix ex- (meaning "out of") and hodos, "road" or "way." Other descendants of the prolific hodos in English include episode, method, odometer, and period.
There are also several scientific words that can be traced back to hodos. Anode, and cathode can refer, respectively, to the positive and negative electrodes of a diode, and hodoscope refers to an instrument for tracing the paths of ionizing particles.