WORD OF THE DAY
cabotage \ KAB-uh-tahzh \ noun
Definition
1 : trade or transport in coastal waters or airspace or between two points within a country
2 : the right to engage in coastal trade or transport
Examples
"If Britain were granted cabotage, B.A.'s planes would be able to operate like a domestic carrier—to hop about the United States, picking up and discharging passengers, and carrying many of them to and from Britain."
— John Newhouse, The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 1991
"The decision to allow cabotage could see a foreign carrier … fly domestic passengers between the Queensland resort and another destination north of the tropic."
— Steve Creedy, The Australian, 29 May 2015
Did You Know?
Coastlines were once so important to the French that they came up with a verb to name the act of sailing along a coast: caboter. That verb gave rise to the French noun cabotage, which named trade or transport along a coast.
In the 16th century, the French legally limited their lucrative coastal trade, declaring that only French ships could trade in French ports. They called the right to conduct such trading cabotage too.
Other nations soon embraced both the concept of trade restrictions and the French name for trading rights, and expanded the idea to inland trade as well.
Friday, March 3, 2017
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Laconic
WORD OF THE DAY
laconic \ luh-KAH-nik \ adjective
Definition
1: using or involving the use of a minimum of words
2: concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious
Examples
The reporters had a hard time getting the laconic quarterback to share his thoughts after the tough loss.
"Far from laconic, Penny is steeped with a positive attitude as she greets students with a smile and asks for their omelet request. With a voracious appetite for conversation, Penny's outgoing personality draws a throng of students to her omelet line."
— Haley Thompson, The Courier (Monmouth College), 3 Feb. 2017
Did You Know?
Laconia was an ancient country in southern Greece, bordering on the and the Mediterranean seas. Its capital city was Sparta, and the Spartans were famous for their terseness of speech. Laconic comes to us by way of Latin from Greek Lakōnikos, which is derived from Lakōn, meaning "native of Laconia."
It has been with us since the 16th century and has sometimes been used with the basic meaning "of or relating to Laconia or its inhabitants" (though we're more apt to use Laconian for this meaning today). In current use, laconic means "terse" or "concise," and thus recalls the Spartan tendency to use the fewest words possible.
laconic \ luh-KAH-nik \ adjective
Definition
1: using or involving the use of a minimum of words
2: concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious
Examples
The reporters had a hard time getting the laconic quarterback to share his thoughts after the tough loss.
"Far from laconic, Penny is steeped with a positive attitude as she greets students with a smile and asks for their omelet request. With a voracious appetite for conversation, Penny's outgoing personality draws a throng of students to her omelet line."
— Haley Thompson, The Courier (Monmouth College), 3 Feb. 2017
Did You Know?
Laconia was an ancient country in southern Greece, bordering on the and the Mediterranean seas. Its capital city was Sparta, and the Spartans were famous for their terseness of speech. Laconic comes to us by way of Latin from Greek Lakōnikos, which is derived from Lakōn, meaning "native of Laconia."
It has been with us since the 16th century and has sometimes been used with the basic meaning "of or relating to Laconia or its inhabitants" (though we're more apt to use Laconian for this meaning today). In current use, laconic means "terse" or "concise," and thus recalls the Spartan tendency to use the fewest words possible.
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Exponent
WORD OF THE DAY
exponent \ ik-SPOH-nunt \ noun
Definition
1 : a symbol written above and to the right of a mathematical expression to indicate the operation of raising to a power
2a : one that expounds or interprets
2b: one that champions, practices, or exemplifies
Examples
"As the leading exponent of naturalism in fiction, [Émile] Zola believed in the clinically accurate depiction of all aspects of human life."
— Adam Kirsch, The New Statesman, 18 Jan. 2017
"But the quality of the imagination is to flow, and not to freeze. The poet did not stop at the color, or the form, but read their meaning; neither may he rest in this meaning, but he makes the same objects exponents of his new thought."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays: Second Series, 1944
Did You Know?
You probably won't be surprised to learn that exponent shares an ancestor with proponent—and indeed, the Latin ponere ("to put") is at the root of both terms. Exponent descends from exponere, which joins ponere with ex- ("out") and means "to put forth" or "to explain." Proponent traces to proponere, a word created from the affix pro- ("before") that can mean "to put before," or "to display" or "to declare."
Proponent is related to propose and can describe someone who offers a proposal, but today it usually means "one who argues in favor of something." Exponent can also refer to someone who is an advocate, but it tends to refer especially to someone who stands out as a shining representative of something. In addition, it has retained its earlier meaning of "one who expounds."
exponent \ ik-SPOH-nunt \ noun
Definition
1 : a symbol written above and to the right of a mathematical expression to indicate the operation of raising to a power
2a : one that expounds or interprets
2b: one that champions, practices, or exemplifies
Examples
"As the leading exponent of naturalism in fiction, [Émile] Zola believed in the clinically accurate depiction of all aspects of human life."
— Adam Kirsch, The New Statesman, 18 Jan. 2017
"But the quality of the imagination is to flow, and not to freeze. The poet did not stop at the color, or the form, but read their meaning; neither may he rest in this meaning, but he makes the same objects exponents of his new thought."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays: Second Series, 1944
Did You Know?
You probably won't be surprised to learn that exponent shares an ancestor with proponent—and indeed, the Latin ponere ("to put") is at the root of both terms. Exponent descends from exponere, which joins ponere with ex- ("out") and means "to put forth" or "to explain." Proponent traces to proponere, a word created from the affix pro- ("before") that can mean "to put before," or "to display" or "to declare."
Proponent is related to propose and can describe someone who offers a proposal, but today it usually means "one who argues in favor of something." Exponent can also refer to someone who is an advocate, but it tends to refer especially to someone who stands out as a shining representative of something. In addition, it has retained its earlier meaning of "one who expounds."
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