Loll

 WORD OF THE DAY

loll / verb / LAHL

Definition:
1a: to hang loosely or laxly
1b: droop
2a: to act or move in a lax, lazy, or indolent manner
2b: lounge
3: to let droop or dangle

Examples
"Curiously, while the seals loll on the sand for a month, their metabolic capacity does not decrease."
— Veronique Greenwood, The New York Times, 8 July 2021

"Mid-August was always my favorite part of summer: still time to loll in the relaxing heat of the season with the sweet anticipation of a new season waiting in the wings."
— Jeanette Marantos, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2021

Did You Know?
Loll has origins similar to those of another soothing verb, lull, which means "to cause to rest or sleep."
Both words can be traced back to 14th-century Middle English and probably originated as imitations of the soft sounds people make when resting or trying to soothe someone else to sleep.
Loll has also been used in English as a noun meaning "the act of lolling" or "a relaxed posture," but that use is now considered archaic.
In its "recline" or "lean" sense, loll shares synonyms with a number of "l" verbs, including loaf, lounge, and laze.

Intransigent

WORD OF THE DAY

intransigent / adjective / in-TRAN-suh-junt

Definition
1: characterized by refusal to compromise or to abandon an often extreme position or attitude
2: uncompromising

Examples
"So we're this incredibly adaptable creature because we have these very plastic brains. And our experience imprints itself on those brains, and we become habituated to things. … And that's just the way they are. … And this is … what makes us so intransigent, so resistant to change…."
— James Suzman, quoted in The New York Times, 29 June 2021

Israel’s previous government, led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had denigrated Abbas as an intransigent inciter of violence and never met with him.
— BostonGlobe.com, 25 Sep. 2021

Did You Know?
English speakers borrowed "intransigent" in the 19th century from Spanish intransigente ("uncompromising"), itself a combination of the familiar prefix in- ("not") and "transigente" ("willing to compromise").
"Transigente" comes from the Spanish verb transigir ("to compromise"), which in turn comes from Latin transigere ("to come to an agreement").
The French have a similar verb, "transiger," which also means "to compromise."
You may wonder if the word transigent exists in English, and the answer is "not really."
It has seen occasional use, but it is not well established.
There is, however, one other common English word that traces from Latin transigere: transact, meaning "to conduct (business)."

Mettle

 WORD OF THE DAY

mettle / noun / MET-ul

Definition
1a: vigor and strength of spirit or temperament
1b: staying quality
1c: stamina
2a: quality of temperament or disposition
2b: aroused to do one's best

Examples
"Recently, 23 of Watauga's best math students met virtually to test their mettle against their peers in the annual MathCounts competition—a contest that tasks young mathematicians to tackle challenging math problems in a timed tournament format."
— The Blowing Rocket (Blowing Rock, North Carolina), 22 Apr. 2021

Tour officials limited capacity to just 20%, but the spectators still were a welcome sight to Thomas and more than enough to test his mettle.
— Edgar Thompson, orlandosentinel.com, 15 Mar. 2021

Did You Know?
Originally, mettle was simply a variant spelling of the word metal (which dates to at least the 13th century), and it was used in all of the same senses as its metallic relative.
Over time, however, mettle came to be used mainly in figurative senses referring to the quality of someone's character.
It eventually became a distinct English word in its own right, losing its literal sense altogether.
Metal remained a term primarily used for those hard, shiny substances such as steel or iron, but it also acquired a figurative use.
Today, both words can mean "vigor and strength of spirit or temperament," but only metal is used of metallic substances.