Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 29, 2012 is: deep-six • \DEEP-SIKS\ • verb 1 : to get rid of : discard, eliminate 2 : to throw overboard Examples: Citing budget concerns, the city council announced that it has deep-sixed plans to repave the city's bike trails. "The nationalist and confrontational Putin has already made it clear that he intends to deep-six Mr. Medvedev's friendly and cooperative approach to the US, and to Obama in particular." - From an article by Howard LaFranchi in The Christian Science Monitor, June 18, 2012 Did you know? Before the introduction of shipboard sonar, water depth was measured by hand with a sounding line. This was generally a rope weighted at one end, with bits of leather called "marks" tied on at intervals to measure the fathoms. Between the marks, fathoms were estimated by "deeps." The "leadsman" (pronounced LEDZ-mun) lowered the line into the water and called out the depth as the rope passed through his hands: "By the mark twain!" at two fathoms; "By the deep six!" at six fathoms. Perhaps due to an association with "six feet under" (dead and buried), to give something the "deep six" (or to "deep-six" it) was to throw it overboard, or, by extension, to discard it. In the mid-1960s "deep-six" made landfall; since then it has been used as much by landlubbers as by old salts. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 28, 2012 is: vilipend • \VIL-uh-pend\ • verb 1 : to hold or treat as of little worth or account 2 : to express a low opinion of : disparage Examples: As a women's movement pioneer, Susan B. Anthony fought against the dictums of those who would vilipend women by treating them as second-class citizens. "But many accepted canine breeds began in lowly circumstances. No matter how we may vilipend their names, denying their cuteness is difficult." - From Bill Casselman's 2010 book Where a Dobdob Meets a Dikdik Did you know? "Vilipend" first appeared in English in the 15th century and comes to us through French from the Latin roots "vilis," meaning "cheap" or "vile," plus "pendere," meaning "to weigh" or "to estimate." These roots work in tandem to form a meaning of "to deem to be of little worth." Both of those roots have weighed in heavily as a source of common English words. Other "vilis" offspring include "vile" and "vilify," while "pendere" has spawned such terms as "append," "expend," and "dispense." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 27, 2012 is: intestine • \in-TESS-tin\ • adjective : internal; specifically : of or relating to the internal affairs of a state or country Examples: News reports of intestine disagreements between the country's two most powerful political factions led to murmurings that the country was on the precipice of civil war. "Last week U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon instructed Valerie Amos to leave for Syria in order to assess the humanitarian situation in the country and agree with the authorities on ways to provide aid to the population hit by the intestine war." - From an article by the ITAR-TASS News Agency, March 1, 2012 Did you know? We bet you thought "intestine" was a noun referring to a part of the digestive system! It is, of course, but naming that internal body part isn't the word's only function. Both the noun and the adjective "intestine" have been a part of English since the 15th century, and both trace to the Latin adjective "intestinus," meaning "internal," and ultimately to "intus," meaning "within." Though the adjective "intestine" turns up much less frequently than does its anatomical cousin, it does see occasional use, especially as a synonym for "civil" and "domestic" (in contrast to "foreign") applied to wars and disturbances. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 26, 2012 is: plage • \PLAHZH\ • noun 1 : the beach of a seaside resort 2 : a bright region on the sun caused by the light emitted by clouds of calcium or hydrogen and often associated with a sunspot Examples: "Vying with Aquitaine for diversity within a single region, the Rhône-Alpes take you from plage to peak via a millennia or two of communities wonderfully wearing their history in their stones." - From an article by Simon Calder in The Independent (London), May 26, 2012 "Sunspots and other storm centers at the surface usually lie within vast regions of strong and tangled magnetic fields, called plages." - From an article by Robert Irion in Science, March 10, 2000 Did you know? If you've been lying on a resort beach contemplating the brightness of the sun, today's word is doubly appropriate. The history of "plage" begins with the Greek word "plagios," meaning "sideways" or "oblique," and then moves over to Late Latin as "plagia." It arrived on the shores of southern Italy in the form of Italian "piaggia" and was used of the beaches there. It became "plage" in French and coasted into the English language in 1888. The word acquired its "bright region of the sun" sense in the mid-20th century. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 25, 2012 is: florid • \FLOR-id\ • adjective 1 : very flowery in style : ornate; also : having a florid style 2 a : tinged with red : ruddy b : marked by emotional or sexual fervor 3 : fully developed : manifesting a complete and typical clinical syndrome Examples: Jimmy mopped his florid face and struggled to continue delivering his speech despite the overwhelming heat in the auditorium. "On Thursday afternoon, peacocking judge Steven Tyler announced his departure after two years with a florid statement about going back to his first love, Aerosmith." - From an article by Gil Kaufman at mtv.com, July 13, 2012 Did you know? When it first entered English "florid" was used with the literal meaning "covered with flowers." That use, though now obsolete, hints at the word's history. English speakers borrowed "florid" from the Latin adjective "floridus" ("blooming" or "flowery"), itself from the verb "florēre" ("to bloom"). "Florēre," which in turn comes from a Latin root meaning "flower," is also an ancestor of the words "flourish" and "florescence" ("a state or period of flourishing"). These days, "florid" can refer to an overblown style in speech, writing, or decoration. As such, its synonyms include "ornate," "rococo," and "overwrought." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 24, 2012 is: yawp • \YAWP\ • verb 1 : to make a raucous noise : squawk 2 : clamor, complain Examples: I'm not one to yawp, but I was quite upset that we had to wait a week for a reply to our inquiry. "Frogs croaked, nightbirds yawped, bats whirred…." - From Joe Kane's 2011 book Running the Amazon Did you know? "Yawp" first appeared sometime in the 14th century. This verb comes from Middle English "yolpen," most likely itself derived from the past participle of "yelpen," meaning "to boast, call out, or yelp." Interestingly, "yawp" retains much of the meaning of "yelpen," in that it implies a type of complaining which often has a yelping or squawking quality. An element of foolishness, in addition to the noisiness, is often implied as well. "Yawp" can also be a noun meaning "a raucous noise" or "squawk." The noun "yawp" arrived on the scene approximately 500 years after the verb. It was greatly popularized by "Song of Myself," a poem by Walt Whitman containing the line "I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 23, 2012 is: welkin • \WEL-kin\ • noun 1 a : the vault of the sky : firmament b : heaven 2 : the upper atmosphere Examples: The pink sky at sunset brought to mind a quote from Shakespeare's King John: "The sun of heaven, methought, was loath to set / But stay'd and made the western welkin blush." "Murray won the first set 6-4…. The welkin shook with British joy. The last Brit to win the Wimbledon title had been Fred Perry, in 1936." - From a blog post by Calvin Tomkins at The New Yorker (online), July 9, 2012 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 since at least the 12th century, and it derives from an earlier word from Old English that meant "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." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 22, 2012 is: vanward • \VAN-werd\ • adjective : located in the vanguard : advanced Examples: The company is looking to hire a marketing director who is savvy in social media and other vanward marketing tactics. "The New Jersey Festival of Electronic Arts, held today from 1 to 8 p.m. … is described as 'an exploration of electronic, environmental and performance art … where AV geeks are vanward and hip.''' - From an events listing in The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey), March 10, 2012 Did you know? The troops at the head of an army are called the "vanguard," and that word can also mean "the forefront of an action or movement." It was "vanguard," rather than "vanward," that led the way on the route into English. "Vanguard" was first documented in English in the 15th century. By the early 17th century, it was sometimes shortened to "van"-a reference might be made to an army's "van and rear." Some 200 years later "vanward" brought up the rear, making its English debut when writers appended "-ward," an adjective suffix meaning "is situated in the direction of," to the shortened "van," thereby creating a word meaning "in the forefront." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 21, 2012 is: fructify • \FRUK-tuh-fye\ • verb 1 : to bear fruit 2 : to make fruitful or productive Examples: The company hopes that its new business partnerships will fructify in the coming months. "The severe water crisis in Delhi is likely to continue as city government's efforts to get additional water from neighbouring Haryana to ease the worsening situation did not fructify." - From an article on rediff.com, June 12, 2012 Did you know? "Fructify" derives from Middle English "fructifien" and ultimately from the Latin noun "fructus," meaning "fruit." When the word was first used in English in the 14th century, it literally referred to the actions of plants that bore fruit; later it was used transitively to refer to the action of making something fruitful, such as soil. The word also expanded to encompass a figurative sense of "fruit," and it is now more frequently used to refer to the giving forth of something in profit from something else (such as dividends from an investment). "Fructus" also gave us the name of the sugar "fructose," as well as "usufruct," which refers to the legal right to enjoy the fruits or profits of something that belongs to someone else. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 20, 2012 is: slew • \SLOO\ • noun : a large number Examples: The school's football team hosts a slew of talented players this year. "A slew of retirements and a changing presidential election landscape have made for some ups and downs for the two parties in this year's fight for the Senate." - From an article by Stuart Rothenberg in Roll Call, June 21, 2012 Did you know? "Slew" appeared as an American colloquialism in the early 19th century. Its origins are unclear, but it is perhaps taken from the Irish "slua," a descendant of Old Irish "slúag," meaning "army," "host," or "throng." "Slew" has several homographs (words that are spelled alike but different in meaning, derivation, or pronunciation) in English. These include: "slew" as the past tense of the verb "slay"; "slew" as a spelling variant of "slough," a word which is also commonly pronounced \SLOO\ and which means "swamp," "an inlet on a river," or "a creek in a marsh or tide flat"; and the verb "slew," meaning "to turn, veer, or skid." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 19, 2012 is: luciferin • \loo-SIF-uh-rin\ • noun : any of various organic substances in luminescent organisms (as fireflies) that upon oxidation produce a virtually heatless light Examples: "Luciferins vary in chemical structure; the luciferin of luminescent bacteria, for example, is completely different from that of fireflies." - From an article at Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2012 "Light is produced by fireflies through a chemical reaction between luciferin and its enzyme counterpart, luciferase." - From an article at photonics.com, June 20, 2012 Did you know? "Luciferin" got its name from the Latin word "lucifer" (meaning "light-bearing"), which is also a source of the word that is sometimes used as a name of the devil. We won't go into how Lucifer came to be called by that name-suffice it to say he wasn't always associated with darkness-but we will look a bit more closely at the Latin word "lucifer." It comes from Latin "luc-," meaning "light," plus "-fer," meaning "bearing" or "producing." Additional relatives include the nontechnical adjective "luciferous," meaning "bringing light or insight," and "luciferase," the enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of luciferin. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 18, 2012 is: calliope • \kuh-LYE-uh-pee\ • noun 1 : the Greek Muse of heroic poetry 2 : a keyboard musical instrument resembling an organ and consisting of a series of whistles sounded by steam or compressed air Examples: "For the first time in 3½ years, the musical tones of a riverboat calliope will be heard on the Henderson riverfront come Monday morning." - From an article by Donna B. Stinnett in the Henderson (Kentucky) Gleaner, April 29, 2012 "Other predictably Beatles-esque touches abound on this handsomely mounted but unexciting effort. You get trumpet squalls, calliope sounds, and Mellotron-ish keyboards in 'The Death of You and Me,' which, ominous title aside, turns out to be 'Penny Lane'-level jaunty." - From an album review by Chris Willman on Reuters.com, November 8, 2011 Did you know? With a name literally meaning "beautiful-voiced" (from "kallos," meaning "beauty," and "ops," meaning "voice"), Calliope was the most prominent of the Muses-the nine sister goddesses who in Greek mythology presided over poetry, song, and the arts and sciences. She is represented in art as holding an epic poem in one hand and a trumpet in the other. The musical instrument invented and patented in the 1850s, played by forcing steam or compressed air through a series of whistles, was named after the goddess. Because its sound could be heard for miles around, the calliope was effective in luring patrons to river showboats, circuses, and carnivals, which is why the instrument continues its association with such attractions today. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 17, 2012 is: wifty • \WIF-tee\ • adjective : eccentrically silly, giddy, or inane : ditzy Examples: "Leaf (Joe McCourt), the wifty product of hippie parents, seems to be taken over by aliens each time he spells a word." - From a theatre review by Lawrence Toppman in the Charlotte Observer, May 11, 2012 "The [American Idol] judges only have to lounge around, and make some wifty comment about the performance." - From a column by David Hiltbrand in the Philadelphia Inquirer, January 7, 2012 Did you know? "Wifty" is a synonym of "ditzy." And, like "ditzy," its origins remain unknown. The earliest known print appearance of "wifty" is in a quotation that appeared in the Delaware County Daily Times (Chester, Pennsylvania) in 1972, though the word was certainly being used in spoken English before that. "Ditzy" appears to be almost as old as "wifty"-we are able to trace it back to at least 1974. But "dizzy," which in its Old English origins meant "foolish" or "stupid," has been used in a sense similar to "ditzy" or "wifty" since the 16th century. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 16, 2012 is: skirl • \SKERL\ • verb : to emit the high shrill tone of the chanter; also : to give forth music 2: to play (music) on the bagpipe Examples: Wearing traditional tartans, the band paraded down the street and skirled. "As bagpipers skirled 'Maury's Wedding,' Mr. Biden began his high energy tour of the Golden Triangle outside the U.S. Courthouse." - From an article by James O'Toole in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 18, 2012 Did you know? Not every musical instrument is honored with its very own verb. But then, not every musical instrument emits a sound that quite matches that of a bagpipe. Depending on your ear, you might think bagpipes "give forth music," or you might be more apt to say they "shriek." If you are of the latter opinion, your thinking aligns with the earliest sense of "skirl" - "to shriek." That early sense was used of screeching maids, winds, and the like. Scottish poet Robert Sempill first used it for bagpipes in the mid-1600s. The meaning of "skirl" has shifted over time, however, and these days you can use the verb without causing offense to bagpipers and bagpipe enthusiasts. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 15, 2012 is: tetralogy • \teh-TRAH-luh-jee\ • noun : a series of four connected literary, artistic, or musical works Examples: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four Parts (as it was published in England) is, as the name rather coyly intimates, a tetralogy of Douglas Adams novels. "Vintage has reissued Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End, a massive tetralogy of novels about England's cascading misfortunes during World War I." - From a review by Scott Eyman in Palm Beach Post (Florida), April 15, 2012 Did you know? The original tetralogies were sets of four plays (three tragedies and a comedy) performed serially on the Athenian stages of ancient Greece. These sets of plays were similar to the "trilogy," a group of three serial Greek tragedies. The word "tetralogy" is from the Greek combining form "tetra-," meaning "four," joined with the combining form "-logia," which in turn comes from "logos," meaning "word." Other "tetra-" words include "tetrahedron" (a solid shape formed by four flat faces) and "tetrapod" (a vertebrate with two pairs of limbs). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 14, 2012 is: kedge • \KEJ\ • verb : to move a ship by means of a line attached to a small anchor dropped at the distance and in the direction desired Examples: To get closer to shore, they kedged the ship. "Stranded in the calm, both the Congress and the Cumberland rushed to position their broadside guns by kedging themselves about with their anchors." - From an article by Mark St. John Erickson in the Daily Press (Newport News, Virginia), March 8, 2012 Did you know? In 1627, A Sea Grammar was published. In that text, Captain John Smith sailed the word "kedge" into the sea of the English language, and etymologists are still trying to find the exact coordinates of its origin. Many believe "cadge," meaning a "carrier" or "huckster," is hitched to "kedge" and that "cadge" was originally towed in by the Middle English word "cagen" ("to tie"). "Cagen" is of equestrian origin: it is strapped to the act of hitching a horse used for transporting wares. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 13, 2012 is: silly season • \SIL-ee-SEE-zun\ • noun 1 : a period (as late summer) when the mass media often focus on trivial or frivolous matters for lack of major news stories 2 : a period marked by frivolous, outlandish, or illogical activity or behavior Examples: As a real news junkie, Christa is always annoyed when the silly season settles on the newsroom of the local paper, and the front page is dominated with pictures of dogs and soft stories about summer apparel. Did you know? "Silly season" was coined in the mid-19th century to describe the time when journalists face a bit of a conundrum: Washington is on summer break and European governments are on vacation, but the columns of space newspapers typically devote to politics must still be filled - hence stories about beating the heat and how celebrities are also managing to do so. The idea is comical, really, since there's always something going on somewhere. P.G. Wodehouse understood the absurdity inherent in the term when he wrote in his 1909 comic novel, The Swoop! or How Clarence Saved English, "It was inevitable, in the height of the Silly Season, that such a topic as the simultaneous invasion of Great Britain by nine foreign powers should be seized upon by the press." Inevitable indeed. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 12, 2012 is: anthophilous • \an-THAH-fuh-lus\ • adjective : feeding upon or living among flowers Examples: The students studied the behaviors of the anthophilous insects found in the field. "While about 30 families of beetles contain at least a few examples of flower visitors, the main anthophilous groups today - those that are of real importance as flower pollinators - are soldier beetles (Cantharidae) and longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae)." - From Pat Willmer’s Pollination and Floral Ecology, 2011 Did you know? Parrots love eucalyptus flowers. That's because anthophilous birds are naturally attracted to "ornithophilous" flowers-which is to say, flowers that are pollinated by birds. The "-philous" in both of those terms is the combining form that means "loving" (from Greek "-philos"). "Anthophilous" uses the Greek word "anthos," meaning "flower," while "ornithophilous" traces back to Greek "ornis," meaning "bird." "Ornithophilous" is one of a whole swarm of specialized words that identify flowers in terms of the flower-loving creatures that pollinate them. "Entomophilous" flowers, for example, are pollinated by anthophilous insects, such as bees. There's even a word specifically for plants that are pollinated by bees: "melittophilous" (from the Greek word "melitta," meaning "bee"). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 11, 2012 is: tucket • \TUCK-ut\ • noun : a fanfare on a trumpet Examples: The tucket sounded, and everyone rose as the king and queen entered the courtyard. "Bare unisons of woodwind, trumpets, and horns exchange sennets and tuckets." -- From a classical music review by Edward Seckerson in The Independent (London), July 25, 1997 Did you know? "Tucket" can be found most notably in the stage directions of several of William Shakespeare's plays. In King Lear, for example, a tucket sounds to alert the Earl of Gloucester of the arrival of the Duke of Cornwall (Act II, Scene i). The word "tucket" is thought to derive from the obsolete English verb "tuk," meaning "to beat a drum" or "to sound a trumpet." These days, the word "fanfare" itself refers to a sounding of trumpets made in celebration or to alert one of another's arrival. The presence of "fanfare" might be the reason that "tucket" is rarely used in contemporary English. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 10, 2012 is: sciential • \sye-EN-shul\ • adjective 1 : relating to or producing knowledge or science 2 : having efficient knowledge : capable Examples: Of the value of having a library at hand for a liberal education, Coleridge wrote: "There is no way of arriving at any sciential end but by finding it at every step." "Whether editors should reproduce altered texts of poems because authors wanted them to do so, and whether literary scholarship has a sciential function at all … - these are extremely important questions." - From a review by Terence Allan Hoagwood in Criticism, September 22, 1997 Did you know? You might expect "sciential," which derives from Latin "scientia" (meaning "knowledge"), to be used mostly in technical papers and descriptions of scientific experiments. In truth, however, "sciential" has long been a favorite of playwrights and poets. It appears in the works of Ben Jonson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and John Keats, among others. Keats made particularly lyrical use of it in his narrative poem "Lamia," which depicts a doomed love affair between the Greek sorceress Lamia and a human named Lycius. In the poem, Hermes transforms Lamia from a serpent into a beautiful woman, "Not one hour old, yet of sciential brain." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 9, 2012 is: hydromancy • \HYE-druh-man-see\ • noun : divination by the appearance or motion of liquids (as water) Examples: Madame Forthwith practices hydromancy, using a bowl of clear water to predict the future rather than the traditional crystal ball. "Did that mean the Elders couldn't do hydromancy, or that they were too law-abiding to try it? I took a deep breath." - From Suzanne Johnson's 2012 fantasy novel Royal Street Did you know? If you've ever encountered a sorceress or a wizard peering into a "scrying bowl" as part of a movie or a book, you've witnessed a (fictionalized) version of "hydromancy." The word has been used since at least the 14th century to describe the use of water in divination - examples include predicting the future by the motion of the tides or contacting spirits using still water. "Hydromancy" is believed to derive ultimately from the Greek words for "water" ("hydōr") and "divination" ("manteia"); it came to English via Latin "hydromantia." The ancient Greeks who relied on hydromancy also gave us the names for related forms of divination, such as "necromancy" (using the dead), "pyromancy" (with fire), and even "rhabdomancy," a fancy and now rare word for "divination with wands or rods." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 8, 2012 is: scupper • \SKUP-er\ • verb : British : to defeat or put an end to : do in Examples: The latest information could scupper the peace talks."Greece faces weeks of political turmoil that could scupper its financial bailout after voters angry at crippling income cuts punished mainstream politicians, let a far-right extremist group into Parliament and gave no party enough votes to govern alone." - From an article in Associated Press Online, May 7, 2012 Did you know? All efforts to figure out where this verb came from have been defeated, including attempts to connect it to the noun "scupper," a 500-year-old word for a drain opening in the side of a ship. (One conjecture, that the blood of shipboard battle was "scuppered" when it was washed down the scuppers, unfortunately lacks backing in the form of any actual evidence of the verb used this way.) All we know for sure is that "scupper" meant "to ambush and massacre" in 19th-century military slang. Then, just before the century turned, it found its place in a magazine story in the sense of simply "doing (someone) in." The more common modern application to things rather than people being done in or defeated didn't appear until a couple of decades into the 20th century. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 7, 2012 is: bruit • \BROOT\ • verb : report, rumor - usually used with about Examples: Word of his imminent dismissal was bruited about. "In Iraq, the mission of the remnant of U.S. forces - the number 3,000 has been bruited - will, [Leon] Panetta says, include counterterrorism actions 'working with the Iraqis.'" - From an editorial by George Will in The Washington Post, September 18, 2011 Did you know? Back in the days of Middle English, the Anglo-French noun "bruit," meaning "clamor" or "noise," rattled into English. Soon English speakers were also using it to mean "report" or "rumor" (it applied especially to favorable reports). We also began using "bruit" as a verb the way we used (and still occasionally do use) the verb "noise," with the meaning "to spread by rumor or report" (as in "the scandal was quickly noised about"). The English noun "bruit" is now considered archaic, but the verb lives on. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 6, 2012 is: goober • \GOO-ber\ • noun : peanut Examples: The children had a tin bucket full of goobers, which they were shelling and eating. "18 miles south of Clovis on US 70, [Portales] is famous for its peanut industry, which supplies roasted goobers to many baseball parks across the nation." - From Sharon Niederman's 2012 book Signs and Shrines: Spiritual Journeys Across New Mexico Did you know? We're just nuts about the word "goober." It's a regional term, used mainly in the southern and east-central part of the United States. But the peanut plant didn't originate in the U.S.; it's actually native to South America. It was taken from there to Africa, where the local people gave new names to the high-protein legumes. Peanuts traveled back to North America with slave traders, and there English speakers adopted a term from the Bantu languages of central and southern Africa to form "goober." "Goober" isn't the only name for "peanut" that has stuck with us. The snack staple is also known as the "groundnut," "earthnut," and, more rarely, the "pinder," another term that originated in the Bantu languages. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 5, 2012 is: solstitial • \sahl-STISH-ul\ • adjective 1 : of, relating to, or characteristic of a solstice and especially the summer solstice 2 : happening or appearing at or associated with a solstice Examples: Hundreds of people gathered recently for the town's annual solstitial celebration. "There are eight man-made monuments in the Stonehenge area with solstitial alignments, a number unmatched anywhere else." - Professor Mike Parker Pearson, as quoted on June 22, 2012, in a blog post by Martin Wainwright at www.guardian.co.uk Did you know? "Solstitial" arrived in English in the 14th century by way of Anglo-French. Both "solstitial" and "solstice" can be traced back to the Latin word "solstitium," meaning "solstice," and ultimately to "sol," meaning "sun," and "-stit-" or "-stes," meaning "standing." Some unsurprising relatives include "solar," "solarium" (a room used for sunbathing or therapeutic exposure to light), and "parasol" (a lightweight umbrella used as a sunshade). A less obvious relative is "armistice," which was coined partially by analogy with the way "solstice" had been formed from the "-stitium" ending. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 4, 2012 is: pyrotechnics • \pye-ruh-TEK-niks\ • noun plural 1 : the art of making or the manufacture and use of fireworks 2 a : a display of fireworks b : a spectacular display (as of extreme virtuosity) Examples: The film's dazzling pyrotechnics, including dynamic editing and fluid cinematography, made it a favorite at the festival. "The council appointed Preston Hodges and Brian McDowell as co-directors of the July Fourth fireworks show. Both are certified to handle pyrotechnics." - From an article by Susan Marshall in the Peabody (Kansas) Gazette-Bulletin, June 7, 2012 Did you know? The use of military fireworks in elaborate celebrations of war and peace is an ancient Chinese custom, but our term for the making and launching of fireworks is a product of the 17th and 18th centuries. "Pyrotechnics" and the earlier adjective "pyrotechnic" derive via French from the Greek nouns "pyr" ("fire") and "techne" ("art"). In "pyr" one can see such fiery relatives as "pyromania," the term for an irresistible impulse to start fires, as well as "pyrite," the mineral also known as fool's gold, which once referred to a stone used for striking fire. Like "fireworks," "pyrotechnics" also has an extended figurative usage, referring to any kind of dazzling display or performance. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 3, 2012 is: volant • \VOH-lunt\ • adjective 1 : having the wings extended as if in flight - used of a heraldic bird 2 : flying or capable of flying 3 : quick, nimble Examples: One prominent feature of the family's crest is a hawk volant. "In general, population genetic studies of volant animals are of particular interest because of their potential for long-distance dispersal and high levels of gene flow over terrestrial and oceanic landscapes." - From the 2012 book Evolutionary History of Bats: Fossils, Molecules and Morphology, by Gregg F. Gunnell and Nancy B. Simmons Did you know? English picked up "volant" from Middle French. The term survives in Modern French as well, both as an adjective having essentially the same meaning as the English term, and as a noun with several meanings (among them "shuttlecock"). The influence of French can be seen doubly in the heraldic sense of "volant": in heraldic contexts, as in our first example sentence above, the adjective "volant" almost always appears after the noun - a syntax picked up from French along with the meaning. Ultimately, "volant" comes from the Latin verb "volare," meaning "to fly." Another word that came to English through Middle French from "volare" is "volley," which refers to things flying back and forth through the air. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 2, 2012 is: pandect • \PAN-dekt\ • noun 1 : a complete code of the laws of a country or system of law 2 : a treatise covering an entire subject Examples: "Stability and support operations are not, within the pandect of modern conflict, considered war at all but 'military operations other than war,'…." - From an article by Tom Bissell in Harper’s Magazine, January 2006 "Through a cast of improbably named characters (Nutbeam, Diddy Shovel, Tert Card, among many) Proulx regales us with a pandect of Newfoundland lore." - From a book review by Sandra Scofield in the Washington Post Book World, August 1, 1993 Did you know? The original pandect was the "Pandectae," a massive fifty-volume digest of Roman civil law that was created under the emperor Justinian in the 6th century. The Latin word "pandectae" is the plural of "pandectes," which means "encyclopedic work" or "book that contains everything." "Pandectes" in turn derives from the Greek "pandekt‡s" ("all-receiving"), from "pan-" ("all") and "dechesthai" ("to receive"). When the word "pandect" first cropped up in English in the mid-16th century, it referred to the complete code of laws of a particular country or system. Its "comprehensive treatise" sense developed later that century. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 1, 2012 is: convoke • \kun-VOHK\ • verb : to call together to a meeting Examples: In 1907 Theodore Roosevelt convoked a conference at The Hague to discuss arms limitation. "As announced at the end of the week, an extraordinary general shareholder meeting will be convoked on the initiative of the Company's Board on 24 May 2012…." - From an article by Ukio Bankas in* Emerging Markets Brokers Reports*, May 8, 2012 Did you know? The Latin noun "vox" ("voice") and verb "vocare" ("to call") have given rise to many English words including "convoke." Other English descendants of those roots are usually spelled with "voc" or "vok" and have to do with speaking or calling. Thus a "vocation" is a special calling to a type of work; an "evocative" sight or smell calls forth memories and feelings; and a "vocal" ensemble is a singing group. "Provoke," "irrevocable," "equivocate," and "vociferous" are a few of the other descendants of "vox" and "vocare." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 30, 2012 is: grandiose • \grand-dee-OSS\ • adjective 1 : characterized by affectation of grandeur or splendor or by absurd exaggeration 2 : impressive because of uncommon largeness, scope, effect, or grandeur Examples: Jason often tried to impress people with his complicated, grandiose plans for success, but he never seemed to make much progress towards putting them into action. "Yanni has achieved much of his fame over the past two decades-plus with grandiose outdoor concerts at places such as the Acropolis, the Taj Mahal and, most recently, El Morro, Puerto Rico." - From a review by David Burke in the Quad-City Times (Davenport, Iowa), May 3, 2012 Did you know? "Grandiose," "magnificent," "imposing," "stately," "majestic," and "grand" all can mean very large and impressive. "Grand" adds to greatness of size the implications of handsomeness and dignity, as in "a grand staircase." "Magnificent" implies an impressive largeness proportionate to scale without sacrifice of dignity or good taste ("magnificent paintings"). "Imposing" implies great size and dignity but especially stresses impressiveness ("an imposing edifice"). "Stately" may suggest poised dignity, erectness of bearing, handsomeness of proportions, and ceremonious deliberation of movement ("the stately procession"). "Majestic" combines the implications "imposing" and "stately" and usually adds a suggestion of solemn grandeur ("a majestic waterfall"). "Grandiose" implies a size or scope exceeding ordinary experience ("grandiose hydroelectric projects"). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 29, 2012 is: quiddity • \KWID-uh-tee\ • noun 1 : whatever makes something the type that it is : essence 2 a : a trifling point : quibble b : an unusual personal opinion or habit : eccentricity Examples: Rembrandt's genius was his unparalleled ability to render a person's quiddity in a single portrait. "I would give Mark a perfect 10 if he did not use an old joke that belonged to Mickey Mantle that didn’t even get a laugh. A quiddity to be sure but enough to jolt me out of my reverie." - From a theater review by Harvey Sid Fisher at hollywoodtoday.net, June 8th, 2012 Did you know? When it comes to synonyms of "quiddity," the Q's have it. Consider "quintessence," a synonym of the "essence of a thing" sense of "quiddity" (this oldest sense of "quiddity" dates from the 14th century). "Quibble" is a synonym of the "trifling point" sense; that meaning of "quiddity" arose from the subtler points of 16th-century academic arguments. And "quirk," like "quiddity," can refer to a person's eccentricities. Of course, "quiddity" also derives from a "Q" word, the Latin pronoun "quis," which is one of two Latin words for "who" (the other is "qui"). "Quid," the neuter form of "quis," gave rise to the Medieval Latin "quidditas," which means "essence," a term that was essential to the development of the English "quiddity." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 28, 2012 is: planet • \PLAN-ut\ • noun 1 : earth -usually used with the 2 : a celestial body held to influence the fate of human beings 3 : a person or thing of great importance : luminary Examples: He dreamed of being a major planet in the literary world, but his books sold poorly and are now out of print. "Nevin wasn't a bad player. He just never did anything for the Astros, ranking just above every person on the planet who never played in the major leagues, with zero home runs and one RBI as an Astro." - From an article by Jerome Solomon in The Houston Chronicle, June 3, 2012 Did you know? "Planet" goes back to ancient Greek "planēt-" (literally, "wanderer"), which is derived from "planasthai," a Greek verb which means "to wander." The name "planet" was originally applied to any of seven visible celestial bodies which appeared to move independently of the fixed stars - the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. In the 17th century, "planet" began to be used specifically of the rocky or gaseous bodies that orbit around the sun - a definition which excluded the moon and, obviously, the sun, but included the Earth and, as they were discovered, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union developed a narrower definition of "planet," effectively demoting Pluto to the status of a "dwarf planet," a celestial body that is spherical and orbits the sun but is not large enough to disturb other objects from its orbit. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 27, 2012 is: oftentimes • \AW-fun-tymez\ • adverb : often, repeatedly Examples: Oftentimes, she is the last employee to leave the office for the day. "For the past three months, viewers have borne witness to what has become a winning formula in reality TV: loudmouthed, oftentimes obnoxious people bickering with one another." - From a recap of Celebrity Apprentice by Dan Hyman on RollingStone.com, May 21, 2012 Did you know? Despite its archaic, literary ring, "oftentimes" is quite alive today. In fact, it seems to be more popular even now than it was thirty years or so ago, appearing frequently both in written expressions and in quoted speech. "Oftentimes" was first used in the 14th century (the same century that gave us "often"), and its meaning hasn't changed - as meanings oftentimes will - in all that time. It was formed as an extension of its slightly older synonym "ofttimes." Today "ofttimes" is less common, but "oft" (which comes from Old English and also means "often" or "frequently") is popular in combination with past participles, as in "oft-praised." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 26, 2012 is: desideratum • \dih-sid-uh-RAH-tum\ • noun, plural desiderata : something desired as essential Examples: "For … every unknown actor dying for a break, a speaking part in a Woody Allen movie is the desideratum." - From an article by Tracy Young in Vogue, November 1990 "200 vendors will offer a wide array of garden-related items…. 'Window-shopping' is welcome, but the event invites you to stock up on your garden desiderata." - From an article by Tom Karwin in the Monterey County Herald (California), March 16, 2012 Did you know? We'd like to introduce you to some close cousins of "desire." All trace their roots to the Latin "sider-," meaning "heavenly body." "Desiderare," meaning "to long for," was born when Latin "de-" was prefixed to "sider-." "Desiderare" begat Anglo-French "desirer," which in turn brought forth English "desire," "desirous," and "desirable" in the 13th and 14th centuries. But many years later, in the 17th century, English acquired "desideration" ("longing"), "desiderate" ("to wish for"), and finally "desideratum," all of which can lay claim to direct ancestry from "desiderare." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 25, 2012 is: frolic • \FRAH-lik\ • verb 1 : to amuse oneself : make merry 2 : to play and run about happily : romp Examples: The puppies frolicked around the room, chasing and pouncing on one another. "During the final round of a golf tournament, a camera zoomed in on two baby ducks frolicking on the bank behind the 18th green…." - From an article by Steve DiMeglio in USA Today, May 24, 2012 Did you know? "Frolic" is a playful word with a happy history. It traces back to the Dutch word "vroolijk" ("merry"), which in turn evolved from a Middle Dutch combination of "vro" ("happy") and the adjectival suffix "-lijc" ("-ly"). "Vro" is related to Old Frisian and Old High German "fro," which also means "happy." (It is also a distant relative of Old English "frogga," from which Modern English derived "frog.") When "frolic" first entered English it was used as an adjective meaning "merry" or "full of fun." Today it can also be a noun, as in "an evening of fun and frolic." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 24, 2012 is: borborygmus • \bor-buh-RIG-mus\ • noun, plural borborygmi : intestinal rumbling caused by moving gas Examples: The hall was very quiet as the test-takers concentrated on the task at hand, and Cara hoped that her embarrassing borborygmus went mostly unnoticed. "'Both men are presenting the classic symptoms [of severe typhoid fever] - fever, sudden prostration, abdominal distress, delirium, right lower quadrant borborygmi.' Springer counted off the symptoms on the fingers of his left hand as if he were on formal ground rounds." - From Robin Cook's 2011 novel Death Benefit Did you know? Unless you're a gastroenterologist, chances are you never knew there was a name for those loud gurglings your belly sometimes makes. And if in looking at the word, you thought it was just some crazy coinage invented by someone who thought the word matched the rumbling sound it represented, you'd be right, in a way. We picked it up from New Latin, but it traces to the Greek verb "borboryzein," which means "to rumble." It is believed that the Greek verb was coined to imitate the digestive noises made by a stomach. "Borborygmus" has been part of English for at least 250 years; its earliest known use dates from around 1724. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 23, 2012 is: nebulous • \NEB-yuh-lus\ • adjective 1 : of, relating to, or resembling a nebula 2 : indistinct, vague Examples: Charlene's description of the film was so nebulous that I’m still not quite sure what it is about. "We just wish his business model wasn't so reliant on propping up a supposedly free market with huge infusions of tax dollars in return for comparatively meager, completely nebulous new jobs estimates." - From an editorial by Matthew Major in Public Opinion (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania), June 8, 2012 Did you know? "Nebulous" comes from the Latin word "nebulosus," meaning "misty," which in turn comes from "nebula," meaning "mist," "fog," or "cloud." In the 18th century, English speakers borrowed "nebula" and gave it a somewhat more specific meaning than the Latin version. In English, "nebula" refers to a cloud of gas or dust in deep space, or in less technical contexts, simply to a galaxy. "Nebulous" itself, when it doesn't have interstellar implications, usually means "cloudy" or "foggy" in a figurative sense. One's memory of a long-past event, for example, will often be nebulous; a teenager might give a nebulous recounting of an evening's events upon coming home; or a politician might make a campaign promise but give only a nebulous description of how he or she would fulfill it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 22, 2012 is: wetware • \WET-wair\ • noun : the human brain or a human being considered especially with respect to human logical and computational capabilities Examples: With the right wetware at the helm, the company should be able to turn a sizeable profit. "Over the weekend, an impressive crossword-solving computer program, called Dr. Fill, which I wrote about earlier, matched its digital wits against the wetware of 600 of the nation's best human solvers at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Brooklyn." - From an article by Steve Lohr in The New York Times, March 19, 2012 Did you know? When the computer terms "software" and "hardware" sprang to life in the mid-20th century, a surge of visions and inventions using the new technology immediately followed … along with a revival of the combining form "ware." An early coinage was "wetware," which began circuiting techie circles in the 1970s as a name for the software installed by Mother Nature (a.k.a. the brain). Other "ware" names for people and their noggins have made a blip in our language - for example, "meatware" and "liveware" - but none have become firmly established in the general lexicon like "wetware." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 21, 2012 is: amative • \AM-uh-tiv\ • adjective 1 : strongly moved by love and especially sexual love 2 a : indicative of love b : of or relating to love Examples: "At the university he became involved with two pretty students, Belene and Allene Ashby, daughters of a Texas rancher, and, amative as ever, he conducted love affairs with both at once." - From John Pearson's 2011 book Painfully Rich: J. Paul Getty and His Heirs "She claimed to have been tutored in the amative arts by an angel named Soph, the spirit of a deceased suitor she had once spurned."- From a book review by Mathew N. Schmalz in Commonweal, May 6, 2011 Did you know? "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…." Elizabeth Barrett Browning came up with eight ways to express her love in her poem; we offer six ways, or rather six words, to describe those expressions of love. Besides the familiar "amorous" and today's "amative," there's "amatory," "amoristic," "amatorious," and "amatorial." (You have to go to our unabridged dictionary to look up those last two.) What we love about this list is that all the words stem from Latin "amare," meaning "to love." "Amative," which was first introduced in 1636, was modeled on Medieval Latin "amativus," from the past participle of "amare." "Amorous," on the other hand, goes back to Middle English and came from Medieval Latin "amorosus," an adjective based on the noun "amor" ("love"). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 20, 2012 is: slimsy • \SLIM-zee\ • adjective : flimsy or frail Examples: "Cradle sheets of this thin, closely woven, white worsted stuff are not slimsy like thin flannel, yet are softer than flannel." - From Alice Morse Earle's 1898 book Home Life In Colonial Days "When he asked if she needed a rest, stubbornness caused her to refuse - she didn't want him thinking she was soft and slimsy." - From Dawn Shamp's 2008 novel On Account of Conspicuous Women Did you know? The reasons why some words flourish and others fall by the lexical wayside are often unclear, but what is clear is that "slimsy" is firmly in the latter category: it has very little current use. This doesn't have to stop you from using it though; "slimsy" is a blend of "slim" and "flimsy," and its meaning should be pretty much apparent to your audience if you're careful with the context. The word was first used in the mid-19th century and was at its peak of popularity in the early 20th, but who knows? Maybe the 21st century will see its revival. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 19, 2012 is: facilitate • \fuh-SIL-uh-tayt\ • verb : to make easier : help bring about Examples: The entrance to Tanya's apartment building comes with a ramp and an automatic door to facilitate getting her wheelchair in and out. "Next week I'll share more of the authors' insights into the brain and how to use this information to facilitate healthier mental states and less stress." - From an article by Jacquelyn Ferguson in The News-Press (Fort Myers, Florida), May 15, 2012 Did you know? As with so many English words, it's easy to find a Latin origin for "facilitate." It traces back to the Latin adjective "facilis," meaning "easy." Other descendants of "facilis" in English include "facile" ("easy to do"), "facility" ("the quality of being easily performed"), "faculty" ("ability"), and "difficult" (from "dis-" plus "facilis," which equals "not easy"). "Facilis" in turn comes from "facere," a Latin verb meaning "to make or do." "Facere" has played a role in the development of dozens of English words, ranging from "affect" to "surfeit." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 18, 2012 is: divertissement • \dih-VER-tiss-munt\ • noun 1 : a dance sequence or short ballet usually used as an interlude 2 : an instrumental chamber work in several movements usually light in character 3 : diversion, entertainment Examples: For visitors seeking more cerebral divertissement, the city boasts a fine performing arts center. "These are the journals of Henry Brandling, a British railroad heir who, desperate for a divertissement for his sickly young son, traveled deep into the land of expert clock makers in the German Schwarzwald in 1854 to commission a mechanical toy duck." - From a book review by Heller McAlpin on NPR.org, May 16, 2012 Did you know? "Divertissement" can mean "diversion" in both English and French, and it probably won't surprise you to learn that "divertissement" and "diversion" can be traced back to the same Latin root : "divertere," meaning "to turn in opposite directions." Early uses of "divertissement" in English often occurred in musical contexts, particularly opera and ballet, describing light sequences that entertained but did little to further the story. (The word's Italian cousin, "divertimento," is used in a similar way.) Today "divertissement" can refer to any kind of amusement or pastime, specifically one that provides a welcome distraction from what is burdensome or distressing. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 17, 2012 is: pungent • \PUN-junt\ • adjective 1 : having a sharp point 2 : marked by a sharp incisive quality 3 a : causing a sharp or irritating sensation b : having an intense flavor or odor Examples: Toni likes to add pungent habaneros to her chili to give it an extra spicy kick. "The locker room door swung open and a glorious mix of Tom Petty music and pungent hockey equipment wafted into the hallway." - From an article by Chip Scoggins in the Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota), May 15, 2012 Did you know? "Pungent" implies a sharp stinging or biting quality, especially of odors, so it's not too surprising to discover the Latin verb "pungere" ("to prick, sting") at its root. "Compunction," "poignant," "puncture," and "punctual" share the same pointy root, and their meanings reflect its influence. Someone who feels compunction may experience the prick of a guilty conscience. Something that is poignant can be piercingly moving. And a punctured tire, pricked by a sharp point, can make it hard to be punctual - that is, to arrive "on the dot" or at a particular point in time. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 16, 2012 is: ahimsa • \uh-HIM-sah\ • noun : the Hindu and Buddhist doctrine of refraining from harming any living being Examples: The young man has renounced his violent past and now adheres to the doctrine of ahimsa. "There are few schools, particularly in the yoga stronghold of New York City, that don't offer some sort of ethical framework to their students, if only recommending that they practice ahimsa, which translates to 'nonviolence,' and train their minds to become unstuck on gluttonous practices…." - From an article by Vanessa Grigoriadis in New York Magazine, April 23, 2012 Did you know? "Ahimsa" has been part of the English language since at least the late 19th century, but the word didn't gain the attention of the English-speaking world until the first half of the 20th century, when it was recognized as an important component of the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. "Ahimsa" comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "noninjury," and Gandhi's policy of nonviolent protest played a crucial role in the political and social changes that eventually led to India's independence from Britain in 1947. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 15, 2012 is: exigent • \EK-suh-junt\ • adjective 1 : requiring immediate aid or action 2 : requiring or calling for much : demanding Examples: The computer technician complained that customers' requests were becoming increasingly exigent, bordering on unreasonable. "Except in exigent circumstances, citizens are supposed to call the police - not take the law into their own hands." - From an editorial by Owen Courrèges in Uptown Messenger, May 14, 2012 Did you know? "This writ seemeth to be called an Exigent because it exacteth the party, that is, requireth his expearance or forthcomming, to answer the lawe." Writer John Cowell, referring in 1607 to a writ summoning a person on pain of outlawry, clearly recognized "exigent" as a derivative of Latin "exigere," which means "to demand." Over the last five centuries we have demanded a lot from "exigent." It has served as a legal term (as in Cowell's quote), as well as a noun meaning either "an emergency" or "an end or extremity." Nowadays, the adjective is seen frequently in legal contexts referring to "exigent circumstances," such as those used to justify a search by police without a warrant. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 14, 2012 is: mandarin • \MAN-drin\ • adjective 1 : of, relating to, or typical of a public official in China 2 : marked by polished ornate complexity of language Examples: "Paradoxically, given his intense intellectuality and mandarin prose, Updike wrote his best work about ordinary life, especially in his tetralogy about Harry 'Rabbit' Angstrom." - From an obituary by Andrew Rosenheim in The Independent (London), January 29, 2009 "Lovecraft managed to genuinely unnerve readers with his haunting monsters and mandarin prose…." - From an article by Geoff Schumacher in Las Vegas CityLife, October 6, 2011 Did you know? The Portuguese were the first to refer to a Chinese official as a "mandarin." The word hails from the Portuguese word "mandarium," which developed from Sanskrit "mantrin," a word for "counselor." Mandarins were promoted by successfully completing the imperial Chinese examination system, which was primarily based on the teachings of Confucian texts. In time, "mandarin" became a word for a pedantic official, a bureaucrat, or a person of position and influence. The noun passed into the English language in 1589, and the adjective appeared about 15 years later. You may also know "Mandarin" as a word for the chief dialect of China or be familiar with the mandarin orange. (The fruit's name comes from the orange color of a mandarin official's robe.) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 13, 2012 is: catch-22 • \KATCH-twen-tee-TOO\ • noun 1 : a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule; also : the circumstance or rule that denies a solution 2 : an illogical, unreasonable, or senseless situation Examples: Following her graduation from college, Kelsey struggled with the classic job-seeker's catch-22: how to acquire work experience in her chosen field without already having a job in that field. "It is the conservationist's catch-22: what to do when one endangered species starts eating another. That is the problem facing environmentalists whose research shows that jaguars, themselves at risk of extinction, are increasingly preying on endangered turtle species." - From an article by Kevin Rawlinson in The Independent (London), May 8, 2012 Did you know? "Catch-22" originated as the title of a 1961 novel by Joseph Heller. (Heller had originally planned to title his novel Catch-18, but the publication of Leon Uris's Mila 18 persuaded him to change the number.) The novel's catch-22 was as follows: a combat pilot was crazy by definition (he would have to be crazy to fly combat missions) and since army regulations stipulated that insanity was justification for grounding, a pilot could avoid flight duty by simply asking, but if he asked, he was demonstrating his sanity (anyone who wanted to get out of combat must be sane) and had to keep flying. The label "catch-22" soon entered the language as the label for any irrational, circular and impossible situation. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 12, 2012 is: commemorate • \kuh-MEM-uh-rayt\ • verb 1 : to call to remembrance 2 : to mark by some ceremony or observation : observe 3 : to serve as a memorial of Examples: A plaque commemorates the battle that took place on the spot 200 years ago. "Pictorial postmarks are event postmarks offered by the Postal Service to commemorate local community events, such as fairs, conventions or other types of local celebrations." - From an article in the Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine), May 14, 2012 Did you know? When you remember something, you are mindful of it. It's appropriate, therefore, that "commemorate" and other related memory-associated words (including "memorable," "memorial," "remember," and "memory" itself) come from the Latin root "memor," meaning "mindful." Some distant older relatives are Old English "gemimor" ("well-known"), Greek "mermēra" ("care"), and Sanskrit "smarati" ("he remembers"). English speakers have been marking the memory of important events with "commemorate" since the late 16th century. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 11, 2012 is: benevolent • \buh-NEV-uh-lunt\ • adjective 1 a : marked by or disposed to doing good b : organized for the purpose of doing good 2 : marked by or suggestive of goodwill Examples: Jody's grandmother was a benevolent lady who enjoyed performing random acts of kindness for both her family and strangers. "This benevolent festival supports the nonprofit Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, which was founded by the folk singer Pete Seeger and aims to clean up the waterway." - From an write-up by Stacey Anderson in The New York Times, May 20, 2012 Did you know? Someone who is "benevolent" genuinely wishes other people well, which is not surprising if you know the word's history. "Benevolent" can be traced back to Latin "bene," meaning "good," and "velle," meaning "to wish." Other descendants of "velle" in English include "volition" ("the act or power of making one's choices or decisions"), "voluntary," and the rare word "velleity" (meaning either "the lowest degree of volition" or "a slight wish or tendency"). There is also one more familiar "velle" descendant - "malevolent," the antonym of "benevolent," a word describing one who is disposed to doing ill instead of good. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 10, 2012 is: verjuice • \VER-jooss\ • noun : the sour juice of crab apples or of unripe fruit; also : an acid liquor made from verjuice Examples: "The other women took to their Bibles and hymn-books, and looked as sour as verjuice over their reading - a result, which I have observed, in my sphere of life, to follow generally on the performance of acts of piety at unaccustomed periods of the day." - From Wilkie Collins' 1868 novel The Moonstone "Winter oregano makes a superb salad green, used lavishly with black olives, thinly sliced red onions, soaked in ice water for an hour if you want to remove some pungency, and dressed with olive oil and a touch of vinegar, salt and lemon juice, verjuice or vinegar." - From an article in the Canberra Times (Australia), May 6, 2012 Did you know? These days, verjuice is typically a tart, pale juice pressed from unripe white grapes, ideal for use in sauces and salad dressings. Verjuice has been around for centuries and is used in Dijon mustard, but the word (a descendant of Anglo-French "vert," meaning "green," and "jous," meaning "juice") has become somewhat uncommon - especially in American English - since its heyday in the early 19th century. (It's a bit more common in Australia.) In the past "verjuice" was also used with the meaning "acidity of disposition or manner" - a meaning hinted at in our first quote - but that sense is now only rarely encountered. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.