Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 4, 2020 is:scumble \SKUM-bul\ verb1 a : to make (something, such as color or a painting) less brilliant by covering with a thin coat of opaque or semiopaque color applied with a nearly dry brushb : to apply (a color) in this manner2 : to soften the lines or colors of (a drawing) by rubbing lightlyExamples:"In an accomplished artist's hands, oil paint is fluid; it can be scumbled or glazed; it's a more versatile medium than tempera." — Cate McQuaid, The Boston Globe, 11 Mar. 2018"Yet even more than usual, Ms. Yiadom-Boakye paints so hastily that she undoes her own best efforts. Backgrounds are often so light that you can see the weave of the linen underneath; faces are reworked carelessly, and the edges between the figures and backgrounds become scumbled." — Jason Farago, The New York Times, 11 May 2017Did you know?The history of scumble is blurry, but the word is thought to be related to the verb scum, an obsolete form of skim, meaning "to pass lightly over." Scumbling, as first perfected by artists such as Titian, involves passing dry, opaque coats of oil paint over a tinted background to create subtle tones and shadows. Although the painting technique dates to the 16th century, use of the word scumble is only known to have begun in the late 18th century. The related noun form soon followed.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 February 3, 2020 is:hierophant \HYE-uh-ruh-fant\ noun1 : a priest in ancient Greece; specifically : the chief priest of the Eleusinian mysteries2 a : a person who explains : expositorb : one who defends or maintains a cause or proposal : advocateExamples:"My choir knew their order and moved into it neatly. One expects that nowadays; then, one often saw choirs jostling about, even arguing aloud about where to stand. I bowed to the High Priestess—here was no Polykrates who'd expect to be noticed first—took in the other hierophants with a general reverence, and made the Archon my homage." — Mary Renault, The Praise Singer, 1978"The art world is a balkanized anarchy, with lots of little insides, lots of little games, better and worse people, hierophants and hustlers." — Peter Schjeldahl, The Village Voice, 6 June 2019Did you know?Hierophant, hieroglyphics, and hierarch have a common root: hieros, a Greek word meaning "sacred." Hieroglyphics joins hieros with a derivative of glyphein, the Greek verb for "to carve." Hierarch, a word that can refer to a religious leader in a position of authority, joins hieros with a derivative of archein, meaning "to rule." Hierophant itself joins the root with a derivative of phainein, which means "to show." The original hierophants were priests of the ancient Greek city of Eleusis who performed sacred rites. In the 17th century, when the word was first documented in English, it referred to these priests. By the 19th century, English speakers were using the term in a broader sense. A hierophant can now be a spokesperson, a commentator, an interpreter, or a leading advocate.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 February 2, 2020 is:prognosticate \prahg-NAHSS-tuh-kayt\ verb1 : to foretell from signs and symptoms : predict2 : to give an indication of in advance : foreshadowExamples:The university's political science professor has successfully prognosticated the outcomes of the last 8 presidential elections."What is it about pundits that they are so often wrong, including in the United States, but they get to keep prognosticating anyway?" — Cal Thomas, The Baltimore Sun, 19 Dec. 2019Did you know?Prognosticate, which comes from the Greek prognōstikos ("foretelling"), first appears in English during the 15th century. Since that time, prognosticate has been connected with things that give omens or warnings of events to come and with people who can prophesy or predict the future by such signs. William Shakespeare used the "prophesy" sense of prognosticate in the sonnet that begins "Not from the stars do I my judgement pluck." "Of thee this I prognosticate," the Bard penned, "Thy end is truth's and beauty's doom and date."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 February 1, 2020 is:fissile \FISS-ul\ adjective1 : capable of or prone to being split or divided in the direction of the grain or along natural planes of cleavage2 : capable of undergoing fissionExamples:"The facility itself is buried under a mountain. Several hundred feet down, in two cavernous halls, neat rows of centrifuges spin uranium gas to produce fissile isotopes, which could be used for nuclear energy—or, if concentrated enough, a nuclear bomb." — The Economist, 7 Nov. 2019"This country that self-identified so smugly as stable, tolerant and moderate, with a crown to symbolise traditions honed down the centuries, is revealed as fissile, fragile and ferociously divided." — Polly Toynbee, The Guardian (London), 28 Aug. 2019Did you know?When scientists first used fissile back in the 1600s, the notion of splitting the nucleus of an atom would have seemed far-fetched indeed. In those days, people thought that atoms were the smallest particles of matter that existed and therefore could not be split. Fissile (which can be traced back to Latin findere, meaning "to split" or "to cleave") was used in reference to things like rocks. When we hear about fissile materials today, the reference is usually to nuclear fission: the splitting of an atomic nucleus that releases a huge amount of energy. But there is still a place in our language for the original sense of fissile (and for the noun fissility, meaning "the quality of being fissile"). A geologist, for example, might refer to slate as being fissile.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 January 31, 2020 is:macabre \muh-KAHB\ adjective1 : having death as a subject : comprising or including a personalized representation of death2 : dwelling on the gruesome3 : tending to produce horror in a beholderExamples:"The secret of Killing Eve is that its macabre sense of humor and spy-story subversions are ornamental compared with the series' grist: the strange, transformative pull the two main characters have on each other." — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 5 Apr. 2019"Described as a surgeon by the newspapers, Holmes was charged with having broken into a vault in Hendon churchyard on 13 September 1828 … and cut the heads off three bodies. This strange and macabre_ story is quite unique, yet the reasons Holmes gave for his actions still applied directly to the advancement and development of medical understanding." — Suzie Lennox, Bodysnatchers, 2016Did you know?We trace the origins of macabre to the name of the Book of Maccabees, which is included in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox canons of the Old Testament and in the Protestant Apocrypha. Sections of this biblical text address both the deaths of faithful people asked to renounce their religion and the manner in which the dead should be properly commemorated. In medieval France, representations of these passages were performed as what became known as the "dance of death" or "dance Maccabee," which was spelled in several different ways, including danse macabre. In English, macabre was originally used in reference to this "dance of death" and then gradually came to refer to anything grim or gruesome.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 January 30, 2020 is:gist \JIST\ noun1 : the ground of a legal action2 : the main point or part : essenceExamples:I didn't catch every word, but I heard enough to get the gist of the conversation."Ironically, the debate largely occurred on Twitter, one of the most effective disruptors of work productivity ever invented. And the gist was this: To succeed professionally, many Silicon Valley types said, one must be prepared to work not just long, but indeed punishing hours—workers must be prepared to give up 'nights and weekends.'"— Ethan Epstein, The Washington Times, 29 Dec. 2019Did you know?The word gist often appears in such contexts as "the gist of the conversation was that…" to let us know that what follows will be a statement or summary that in some way encapsulates the main point or overarching theme. The gist of a conversation, argument, story, or what-have-you is what we rely on when the actual words and details are only imperfectly recalled, inessential, or too voluminous to recount in their entirety. Gist was borrowed from the Anglo-French legal phrase laccion gist ("the action lies or is based [on]") in the 17th century, and it was originally used in law as a term referring to the foundation or grounds for a legal action without which the action would not be legally sustainable.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 January 29, 2020 is:allege \uh-LEJ\ verb1 : to assert without proof or before proving2 : to bring forward as a reason or excuseExamples:The lawsuit alleges that the company knew about the faulty switches but sold the product anyway."While the ACCC does not allege Mr Vassella was directly involved in formulating or carrying out the alleged price-fixing scheme, court documents filed by the regulator say he was briefed on the plans within a month of their launch, and given regular presentations on progress for at least the next six months." — Eric Johnston, The Australian, 27 Dec. 2019Did you know?These days, someone alleges something before presenting the evidence to prove it (or perhaps without evidence at all), but the word actually derives from the Middle English verb alleggen, meaning "to submit (something) in evidence or as justification." Alleggen, in turn, traces back to Anglo-French and probably ultimately to Latin allegare, meaning "to send as a representative" or "to offer as proof in support of a plea." Indeed, allege once referred to the actions of someone who came forward to testify in court; this sense isn't used anymore, but it led to the development of the current "assert without proof" sense.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 January 28, 2020 is:diligent \DIL-uh-junt\ adjective: characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort : painstakingExamples:After many hours of diligent research, the students were ready to compile their results."Being informed and diligent is a better investing strategy than no strategy at all. And it keeps us from 'acting ridiculously' at just the wrong time." — Nancy Tengler, USA Today, 16 Dec. 2019Did you know?You're more likely to be diligent about something if you love doing it. The etymology of diligent reflects the fact that affection can lead to energetic effort. The word, which entered English in the 14th century by way of Anglo-French, descends from the Latin verb diligere, meaning "to value or esteem highly" or "to love." The Latin diligere was formed by adding the di- prefix (from dis-, "apart") to the verb legere, an ancestor of the English legend, meaning "to gather, select" or "to read." Of course, you don't need to care for the task at hand in order to be diligent, but it certainly does help!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 January 27, 2020 is:parvenu \PAHR-vuh-noo\ noun: one that has recently or suddenly risen to an unaccustomed position of wealth or power and has not yet gained the prestige, dignity, or manner associated with itExamples:"It's impossible to exaggerate the rapidity with which Lexus came to dominate the North American luxury market. At its introduction in 1989, its competitors denigrated it as mere parvenu.... By 1990, the LS had become the bestselling large luxury sedan in the land." — David Booth, The Calgary Herald, 19 July 2019"Croatia … does not have one of the strongest leagues in the world, one in which most clubs rely on selling young players, for a premium, to the aristocrats and parvenus of England and Spain. In an era in which financial might so often makes right, when the traditional European powerhouses hold the balance of power to a greater extent than at any time in history, … Croatia's achievement in making it this far is breathtaking." — Rory Smith, The New York Times, 15 July 2018Did you know?French has been generous in providing us with terms for obscure folks who suddenly strike it rich. In addition to parvenu, French has loaned us nouveau riche, arriviste, and roturier, all of which can describe a rich person of plebeian origins, especially one who is a bit snobby. Those colorful and slightly disparaging terms for the newly moneyed clearly show their French heritage, but it may be harder to see the French background of a term Massachusetts locals once used for coastal merchants made rich through the fishing trade: codfish aristocracy. Codfish comes from Middle English (beyond that its origin is a mystery), but aristocracy passed into English via Middle French (it is ultimately from Greek aristos, meaning "best").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 January 26, 2020 is:sublimate \SUB-luh-mayt\ verb1 : to pass or cause to pass directly from the solid to the vapor state2 : to divert the expression of (an instinctual desire or impulse) from its unacceptable form to one that is considered more socially or culturally acceptableExamples:"These ice crystals are temporary from day to day. They develop at night when the air is at its coldest but melt or sublimate away during the day in warmer air or sunlight." — Robert Dryja, The Los Alamos (New Mexico) Daily Post, 29 Nov. 2019"She stalks. She hacks. She grimace-smiles.... She polishes silver with barely-contained fury.... She rides horseback in a manner that announces a ferocious, yet sublimated, desire." — Dave White, The Wrap, 20 Apr. 2017Did you know?To sublimate is to change the form, but not the essence. Physically speaking, it means to transform solid to vapor; psychologically, it means changing the outlet, or means, of expression from something base and inappropriate to something more positive or acceptable. The word sublimate comes from the Latin verb sublimare, which means "to lift up" or "to raise" and which is also the ancestor of our sublime. Sublimate itself once meant "to elevate to a place of dignity or honor" or "to give a more elevated character to," but these meanings are now obsolete.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 January 25, 2020 is:lackluster \LAK-luss-ter\ adjective: lacking in sheen, brilliance, or vitality : dull, mediocreExamples:In spite of its owner's hard work, the coffee shop was forced to close due to lackluster sales."Say what you will about the Cardinals' record this season, but they've shown fight and played with effort all year other than a lackluster performance during a 34–7 blowout by the Rams." — Bob McManaman, The Arizona Republic, 18 Dec. 2019Did you know?In its earliest uses, lackluster (also spelled lacklustre) usually described eyes that were dull or lacking in brightness, as in "a lackluster stare." Later, it came to describe other things whose sheen had been removed; Charles Dickens, in his 1844 novel Martin Chuzzlewit, writes of the faded image of the dragon on the sign outside a village alehouse: "many a wintry storm of rain, snow, sleet, and hail, had changed his colour from a gaudy blue to a faint lack-lustre shade of grey." In addition to "a glow or sheen," luster can refer to a superficial attractiveness or appearance of excellence; it follows then that lackluster is often used as a synonym for unspectacular.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 January 24, 2020 is:euphoria \yoo-FOR-ee-uh\ noun: a feeling of well-being or elationExamples:"In February 2014, Xenia gave birth to their daughter, Ella. Ben still recalls the euphoria of watching the nurse place their newborn on Xenia's chest. He still can't quite believe the song that played on the operating room radio, the refrain resounding in that moment: God only knows what I'd be without you." — Caitlin Gibson, The Washington Post Magazine, 9 Dec. 2019"The floor became a dance-off—in one corner, dozens of girls put all their bags and backpacks in one giant pile, so nobody had to worry where their stuff was, and then danced around the pile in a circle that was really moving to behold, an example of how a Harry Styles concert creates crucial moments of utopian unity and shared euphoria." — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 14 Dec. 2019Did you know?Health and happiness are often linked, sometimes even in etymologies. Nowadays euphoria generally refers to happiness, but it derives from euphoros, a Greek word that means "healthy." Given that root, it's not surprising that in its original English uses euphoria was a medical term. Its entry in an early 18th-century dictionary explains it as "the well-bearing of the Operation of a Medicine; that is, when the Sick Person finds himself eas'd or reliev'd by it." Modern physicians still use the term, but they aren't likely to prescribe something that will cause it. In contemporary medicine and psychology, euphoria can describe abnormal or inappropriate feelings such as those caused by an illicit drug or an illness.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 January 23, 2020 is:outlandish \out-LAN-dish\ adjective1 : of or relating to another country : foreign2 a : strikingly out of the ordinary : bizarreb : exceeding proper or reasonable limits or standards3 : remote from civilizationExamples:"In a letter sent to his mother … [T.S. Eliot] wrote, 'I really think that I have far more influence on English letters than any other American has ever had, unless it be Henry James.' It's an outlandish claim, even if one allows for the kind of hyperbole to be found in a letter meant to impress one's parents." — Kevin Dettmar, The New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2019"Seana Benz and Jimmy Johansmeyer create a hilarious series of outlandish costumes for the Carnegie sequence, which Woodall showcases in rapid succession." — Gene Terruso, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 15 Dec. 2019Did you know?In olden times, English speakers used the phrase "outlandish man" to refer to a foreigner—or, one who came from an outland, which originally meant "a foreign land." From here, outlandish broadened in usage from a word meaning "from another land" to one describing something unfamiliar or strange. Dress was a common early target for the adjective; English novelist Henry Fielding, in Tom Jones (1749), writes of a woman who was "drest in one of your outlandish Garments." Nowadays, the word can be applied to anything that strikes us as out of the ordinary, from bizarre conspiracy theories to exaggerated boasting.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 January 22, 2020 is:nurture \NER-cher\ verb1 : to supply with nourishment  2 : educate 3 : to further the development of : fosterExamples:The mayor pushed for tax credits for small businesses as a way to nurture economic growth."Nurture your marriage. While it's important to keep the kids happy, it's also important to set aside time for you and your spouse." — K. Lori Hanson, The Miami Herald, 17 Dec. 2019Did you know?It's no coincidence that nurture is a synonym of nourish—both are derived from the Latin verb nutrire, meaning "to suckle" or "to nourish." The noun nurture first appeared in English in the 14th century, but the verb didn't arrive until the 15th century. Originally, the verb nurture meant "to feed or nourish." The sense meaning "to further the development of" didn't come into being until the end of the 18th century. Mary Wollstonecraft, mother of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley, is credited with first giving life to that sense in her Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792): "Public spirit must be nurtured by private virtue," she wrote. Other nutrire descendants in English include nutrient, nutritious, nutriment, nutrition, and, of course, nourishment.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 January 21, 2020 is:bonhomie \bah-nuh-MEE\ noun: good-natured easy friendlinessExamples:"For older athletes, the bonhomie among teammates and rivals who have spent years sprinting or skating together, or boxing one another out under the rim, is often as important as the exercise. Many have become friends off the court, sharing meals and socializing after games." — Robert Weisman, The Boston Globe, 4 Dec. 2019"Throughout its history, the hugely successful TV show 'Downton Abbey' warmly embraced the tradition of the Christmas episode, a seasonally themed special that continued the endless narrative but with a particularly romantic and sentimental nod to what audiences wanted on Christmas Day, a time of familial togetherness and bonhomie." — Chris Jones, The Chicago Tribune, 19 Nov. 2019Did you know?English speakers borrowed bonhomie from French, where the word was created from bonhomme, which means "good-natured man" and is itself a composite of two other French words: bon, meaning "good," and homme, meaning "man." That French compound traces to two Latin terms, bonus (meaning "good") and homo (meaning either "man" or "human being"). English speakers have warmly embraced bonhomie and its meaning, but we have also anglicized the pronunciation in a way that may make native French speakers cringe. (We hope they will be good-natured about 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 January 20, 2020 is:dauntless \DAWNT-lus\ adjective: incapable of being intimidated or subdued : fearless, undauntedExamples:With dauntless persistence, the ship's crew navigated the vessel through the unexpected storm, escaping with minimal damage and no casualties."Dug, as dauntless as ever, travels to the stronghold of his foes. The entrance is shielded by one gate after another, each shunting into position with a mighty clang, and finally, in the movie's best gag, by a little sliding bolt, such as you might find on a garden shed." — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2018Did you know?The history of the world is peopled with dauntless men and women who refused to be "subdued" or "tamed" by fear. The word dauntless can be traced back to Latin domare, meaning "to tame" or "to subdue." When our verb daunt (a domare descendant adopted by way of Anglo-French) was first used in the 14th century, it shared these meanings. The now-obsolete "tame" sense referred to the taming or breaking of wild animals, particularly horses: an undaunted horse was an unbroken horse. Not until the late 16th century did we use undaunted with the meaning "undiscouraged and courageously resolute" to describe people. By then, such lionhearted souls could also be described as "undauntable" as well as "dauntless."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 January 19, 2020 is:intercalate \in-TER-kuh-layt\ verb1 : to insert (something, such as a day) in a calendar2 : to insert between or among existing elements or layersExamples:"The fossiliferous deposits … consist of pale pinkish-orange brown clays, brownish grey siltstones and shale, and greenish grey fine to medium grained sandstones intercalated with dark grey conglomerates…." — M. A. Khan, et al., The Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences, 31 Dec. 2011"In order for a lunar calendar to keep up with the solar year and the seasons, it is necessary to intercalate a 13th lunar month every two or three years." — Sacha Stern, Calendars in Antiquity: Empires, States, and Societies, 2012Did you know?Intercalate was formed from the Latin prefix inter-, meaning "between" or "among," and the Latin verb calāre, meaning "to proclaim" or "to announce." It was originally associated with proclaiming the addition of a day or month in a calendar. An instance of intercalation occurred in the earliest versions of the Roman calendar, which originally consisted of 304 days and 10 months and was determined by the lunar cycle (the remaining 61.25 days of winter were apparently ignored). According to some Roman legends, it was Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, who intercalated the months January and February. Eventually, the word's use broadened to include other instances of introducing new elements or layers into a preexisting system.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 January 18, 2020 is:vicarious \vye-KAIR-ee-us\ adjective1 : experienced or realized through imaginative or sympathetic participation in the experience of another  2 a : serving instead of someone or something else  b : that has been delegated3 : performed or suffered by one person as a substitute for another or to the benefit or advantage of another : substitutionary4 : occurring in an unexpected or abnormal part of the body instead of the usual oneExamples:"'Gravity' is a brilliantly realized, completely riveting, dread-drenched science fiction thriller about two astronauts stranded in orbit around Earth. And it turns out to be one amazing vicarious experience, simultaneously dream and nightmare, with a set of cinematic illusions that simply—well, maybe not so simply—astounds." — Bill Wine, The Chestnut Hill Local (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 15 Nov. 2019"What kind of a play might Shakespeare have written if Lady Macbeth, rather than her husband, had been given the leading role? This is the premise of Kally Lloyd-Jones's bold and haunting new work, in which she tries to imagine the full story of a woman so deprived of purpose, so hell-bent on vicarious_ power, that she will goad her husband to commit regicide." — The Guardian (London), 9 Aug. 2017Did you know?If you act in someone's stead, you take his or her place, at least temporarily. The oldest meaning of vicarious, which dates to the first half of the 1600s, is "serving instead of someone or something else." The word vicarious derives from the Latin noun vicis, which means "change," "alternation," or "stead." Vicis is also the source of the English prefix vice- (as in "vice president"), meaning "one that takes the place of."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 January 17, 2020 is:tontine \TAHN-teen\ noun: a joint financial arrangement whereby the participants usually contribute equally to a prize that is awarded entirely to the participant who survives all the othersExamples:"For denizens of the realm, tontines were a very popular twist on the annuity because they appealed to the gambling spirit. An annuity would pay you a steady trickle of money (boring). A tontine would pay you more and more as time went on because other people would be dying and you would be accumulating their shares." — Jeff Guo, The Washington Post, 28 Sept. 2015"Lord Deverell wanted a loan from me based upon his contribution. Wanted out of the tontine entirely, rather, but without having to go to the trouble of dying." — Theresa Romain, Lady Notorious, 2019Did you know?Tontines were named after their creator, a Neapolitan banker named Lorenzo Tonti. In 1653, Tonti convinced investors to buy shares in a fund he had created. Each year, the investors earned dividends, and when one of them died, their share of the profits was redistributed among the survivors. When the last investor died, the capital reverted to the state. Louis XIV of France used tontines to save his ailing treasury and to fund municipal projects, and private tontines (where the last surviving investor—and subsequently their heirs—got the cash instead of the state) became popular throughout Europe and the U.S. Eventually, though, tontines were banned; there was just too much temptation for unscrupulous investors to bump off their fellow subscribers.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 January 16, 2020 is:hirsute \HER-soot\ adjective1 : hairy2 : covered with coarse stiff hairsExamples:Turner wore a hirsute mask as part of his werewolf costume for the school play."Berry is a stocky, hirsute fellow, with a big, rich voice that immediately calls to mind the word 'thespian' and gives everything he says a sheen of (over)dramatic irony…." — Robert Lloyd, The Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2019Did you know?Hirsute has nearly the same spelling and exactly the same meaning as its Latin parent, hirsutus. The word isn't quite one of a kind, though—it has four close relatives: hirsutism and hirsuties, synonymous nouns naming a medical condition involving excessive hair growth; hirsutal, an adjective meaning "of or relating to hair"; and hirsutulous, a mostly botanical term meaning "slightly hairy" (as in "hirsutulous stems"). The Latin hirsutus is also an etymological cousin to horrēre, meaning "to bristle." Horrēre gave rise to Latin horrōr-, horror, which has the various meanings of "standing stiffly," "bristling," "shivering," "dread," "consternation," and is the source, via Anglo-French, of our word horror. The word horripilation—a fancy word for goose bumps—is also a hirsute relation; its Latin source, horripilāre, means "to shudder," and was formed from horrēre and pilus ("hair").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 January 15, 2020 is:artifice \AHR-tuh-fus\ noun1 a : clever or artful skill : ingenuityb : an ingenious device or expedient2 a : an artful stratagem : trick b : false or insincere behaviorExamples:"A generation that's grown up with Snapchat-filtered selfies and pop feminism seems to have an innate understanding that artifice doesn't negate authenticity, or that a penchant for towering wigs and acrylic nails doesn't prevent someone from being a songwriting genius." — Lindsay Zoladz, The New York Times, 21 Nov. 2019"It could all be rather enervating, but the sheer polish and panache of the cast's fluttering antics brings a smile to the lips—and Wilson introduced a soupçon of reality to offset the artifice. Having pretended to have a boyfriend, wealthy heiress Polly Browne … affects to be a humble secretary after she's instantly smitten with errant rich-kid Tony, who's slumming it as an errand boy." — Dominic Cavendish, The Daily Telegraph (London), 3 Dec. 2019Did you know?Do great actors display artifice or art? Sometimes a bit of both. Artifice stresses creative skill or intelligence, but it also implies a sense of falseness and trickery. Art generally rises above such falseness, suggesting instead an unanalyzable creative force. Actors may rely on some of each, but the personae they display in their roles are usually artificial creations. Therein lies a lexical connection between art and artifice. Artifice derives from artificium, Latin for "artifice." That root also gave English artificial. Artificium, in turn, developed from ars, the Latin root underlying the word art (and related terms such as artist and artisan).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 January 14, 2020 is:lily-livered \LILL-ee-LIV-erd\ adjective: lacking courage : cowardlyExamples:"The deus ex machina aspect of Mando's comrades popping up to save him and Baby Yoda from certain death once he proved he wasn't a lily-livered Empire flunky kind of irked me, but I often have that complaint with sci-fi and superhero stories, both of which are prone to ending battles with an out-of-nowhere assist." — Katie Rife, The A.V. Club, 22 Nov. 2019"I did see more salads than should be allowed in a place like this—something the tentacle-bearded sea captain would surely dismiss as lily-livered landlubber food. And when you're deep inside the belly of Helmsman Ale House, marvelling at the … original arched, wood-beam ceilings that make you feel as if you've been swallowed by the hull of an ancient schooner, salad seems a silly thing to eat, especially while you're chugging a pint." — Edwin Goei, OC Weekly (Costa Mesa, California), 25 Sept. 2019Did you know?The basis of the word lily-livered lies in an old belief. Years ago, people thought that health and temperament were the products of a balance or imbalance of four bodily fluids, or humors: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. It was believed that a deficiency of yellow bile, or choler, the humor that governed anger, spirit, and courage, would leave a person's liver colorless or white. Someone with this deficiency, and so white-livered, would be spiritless and a coward. Lily-livered and white-livered have been used synonymously since the 17th century, but lily-livered is now the more common expression, probably because of its alliteration.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 January 13, 2020 is:glom \GLAHM\ verb1 : take, steal2 : seize, catchExamples:"It would not surprise me if the sampling 'Fleabag' receives from glomming an Emmy sets it up as a series that makes viewers eagerly await new seasons." — Neal Zoren, The Delaware County (Pennsylvania) Daily Times, 30 Sept. 2019"The Captain is the alter ego of the kids' school principal, a real grump named Krupp … who can't stand laughter or those boys. A magic plastic hypno-ring glommed out of a cereal box puts him under the lads' spell and has him peeling down to his underpants and going forth to, well, mess things up." — Soren Andersen, The Seattle Times, 1 June 2017Did you know?It's a classic case of glomming: Americans seized on glaum (a term from Scots dialect that basically means "to grab") and appropriated it as their own, changing it to glom in the process. Glom first meant "to steal" (as in the purse-snatching, robber kind of stealing), but over time that meaning got stretched, resulting in figurative uses. Today we might say, for example, that a busy professional gloms a weekend getaway. Glom also appears frequently in the phrase "glom on to," which can mean "to appropriate for one's own use" ("glom on to another's idea"); "to grab hold of" ("glom on to the last cookie"); or "to latch on to" ("glom on to an opinion" or "glom on to an influential friend").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 January 12, 2020 is:weal \WEEL\ noun: a sound, healthy, or prosperous state : well-beingExamples:Before presenting the bill to the legislature, the senator spoke of devotion to the general weal."All our life … is but a mass of habits,—practical, emotional, and intellectual,—systematically organized for our weal or woe, and bearing us irresistibly toward our destiny, whatever the latter may be." — William James, Talks to Teachers on Psychology, 1899Did you know?Weal is most often used in contexts referring to the general good. One reads, for example, of the "public weal" or the "common weal." The latter of these led to the formation of the noun commonweal, a word that once referred to an organized political entity, such as a nation or state, but today usually means "the general welfare." The word commonwealth shares these meanings, but its situation is reversed; the "political entity" sense of commonwealth is still current whereas the "general welfare" sense has become archaic. At one time, weal and wealth were also synonyms; both meant "riches" ("all his worldly weal") and "well-being." Both words stem from wela, the Old English word for "well-being," and are closely related to the Old English word for "well."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 January 11, 2020 is:convoke \kun-VOHK\ verb: to call together to a meetingExamples:"The gloves were off now, and to mobilize every possible moral and military advantage, the pope convoked a general church Council in Rome for 1241." — Adrian House, Francis of Assisi, 2000"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently convoked a committee charged with proposing new standards for particle pollution, and two experts recommended a more careful look at exposure to harvest dust." — Garth Stapley, The Modesto (California) Bee, 10 Sept. 2016Did 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 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. The related noun convocation refers to those whom have been called together.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 January 10, 2020 is:elixir \ih-LIK-ser\ noun1 a (1) : a substance held to be capable of changing base metals into gold(2) : a substance held to be capable of prolonging life indefinitelyb (1) : cure-all(2) : a medicinal concoction2 : a sweetened liquid usually containing alcohol that is used in medication either for its medicinal ingredients or as a flavoring3 : the essential principleExamples:While the new sports complex is hardly an elixir for all of the city's economic woes, it should spur some much-needed job growth."Before turning in on a really cold night, a hot toddy really helps knock off the edge. My elixir of choice is a cup of hot apple cider mixed with a shot of 12 Point Bourbon." — Bryan Hendricks, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 14 Nov. 2019Did you know?Elixir has roots in the practice of alchemy; it was used in the Middle Ages as the word for a substance believed to be capable of changing base metals into gold. Its later use for a drug purported to prolong one's life led to its use in the names of medicines of mostly questionable effectiveness. Today, it is often used generally for anything thought capable of remedying all ills or difficulties, be they physical or otherwise. The word came to us via Middle English and Medieval Latin from Arabic al-iksīr; it probably ultimately derives from Greek xērion, meaning "desiccative powder."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 January 9, 2020 is:belated \bih-LAY-tud\ adjective1 : delayed beyond the usual time2 : existing or appearing past the normal or proper timeExamples:Olivia called her friend on his birthday to let him know that a belated gift from her was on its way."Although it airs in Hebrew and Yiddish with English subtitles, Shtisel … has become such an international favorite that its creators are contemplating a belated third season, while Friends and Grace and Frankie co-creator Marta Kauffman is working on an American version." — Joy Press, Vanity Fair, 29 Aug. 2019Did you know?Long ago, there was a verb belate, which meant "to make late." From the beginning, belate tended to mostly turn up in the form of its past participle, belated. Eventually, belate itself fell out of use, leaving behind belated as an adjective that preserved the original notion of delay. As you may have guessed, belate and its descendant belated derive from the adjective late; belate was formed by simply combining the prefix be- ("to cause to be") with late. Belated was also once used in the sense "overtaken by night," as in "belated travelers seeking lodging for the night." This sense was in fact the first meaning of the adjective, but it has since fallen into disuse.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 January 8, 2020 is:surfeit \SER-fut\ noun1 : an overabundant supply : excess2 : an intemperate or immoderate indulgence in something (such as food or drink)3 : disgust caused by excessExamples:"The fracking boom in the United States has led to a surfeit of natural gas worldwide." — Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 3 Dec. 2019    "So we're keeping an eye on the next big opening, Limalimo, a 14-room lodge slated to debut in the Simien Mountains National Park in January or February. The design looks set to establish new standards: slick, sustainable (built of rammed earth and thatch), and with surfeits of natural light." — Maria Shollenbarger, The Condé Nast Traveler, 31 Aug. 2015Did you know?There is an abundance—you could almost say a surfeit—of English words that derive from the Latin facere, meaning "to do." The connection to facere is fairly obvious for words spelled with "fic," "fac," or "fec," such as sacrifice, benefaction, and infect. For words like stupefy (a modification of Latin stupefacere) and hacienda (originally, in Old Spanish and Latin, facienda) the facere factor is not so apparent. As for surfeit, the "c" was dropped along the path that led from Latin through Anglo-French, where facere became faire and sur- was added to make the verb surfaire, meaning "to overdo." It is the Anglo-French noun surfet ("excess"), however, that Middle English borrowed, eventually settling on the spelling 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 January 7, 2020 is:dragoon \druh-GOON\ verb1 : to subjugate or persecute by harsh use of troops2 : to force into submission or compliance especially by violent measuresExamples:The ragtag force, composed mostly of young men dragooned from the surrounding villages, quickly surrendered to the more professional army of its foes."Too often, when a performer interacts with an audience, it's a cringe-fest: at best awkward, at worst humiliating for the poor spectator dragooned into serving as a prop." — Don Aucoin, The Boston Globe, 25 Sept. 2019Did you know?A dragoon was a mounted European infantryman of the 17th and 18th centuries armed with a firearm called by the same name. No arm-twisting should be needed to get you to believe that the firearm's name, which came to English from French, is derived from its semblance to a fire-breathing dragon when fired. History has recorded the dragonish nature of the dragoons who persecuted the French Protestants in the 17th century during the reign of Louis XIV. The persecution by means of the dragoons led to the use of the word dragoon as a verb.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 January 6, 2020 is:agrarian \uh-GRAIR-ee-un\ adjective1 : of or relating to fields or lands or their tenure2 a : of, relating to, or characteristic of farmers or their way of lifeb : organized or designed to promote agricultural interestsExamples:"Young children were encouraged to take part in adult activities as soon as they were able.... In agrarian societies they had always been expected to help out at home and in the fields from an early age." — The Economist, 5 Jan. 2019"The Village of Dunchurch is no exception.... Even as the region diversifies from its agricultural base and develops with extravagant cottages dotting the lakes, the village's agrarian roots are proudly celebrated during the course of this annual festivity." — The Parry Sound North Star, 7 Aug. 2019See 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 January 5, 2020 is:permutation \per-myoo-TAY-shun\ noun1 : often major or fundamental change (as in character or condition) based primarily on rearrangement of existent elements; also : a form or variety resulting from such change2 a : the act or process of changing the lineal order of an ordered set of objectsb : an ordered arrangement of a set of objectsExamples:"Scientists have performed many permutations of the original MHC study, but the results suggest that people choose mates that have MHC genes that are dissimilar to their own—although not too dissimilar." — Caitlin O'Connell, Elephant Don: The Politics of a Pachyderm Posse, 2015"Two weeks after Wilder and Ortiz meet in the ring, Joshua and Ruiz plan to fight again in Saudi Arabia, which could generate several permutations of follow-up bouts, depending on who wins." — John Eligon, The New York Times, 22 Nov. 2019Did you know?Permutation has not changed all that much since it was borrowed into Middle English from Anglo-French as permutacioun, meaning "exchange, transformation." Permutacioun traces back to the Latin verb permutare, meaning "to change thoroughly, exchange," and ultimately derives from the Latin mutare, "to change." Other descendants of mutare in English include commute, mutant, and mutual. Permutation also has a specific application in the field of mathematics relating to the ordering of a given set of objects. For example, permutations of items a, b, and c_ are abc, acb, bac, etc.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 January 4, 2020 is:mendacious \men-DAY-shus\ adjective: given to or characterized by deception or falsehood or divergence from absolute truthExamples:Students in the class analyze political speeches and learn how to separate exaggerations and mendacious claims from verifiable facts."The periodical's skeptical approach to advertisers and authority figures helped raise a less credulous and more critical generation in the 1960s and 1970s. Today's media environment differs considerably from the era in which Mad [Magazine] flourished. But it could be argued that consumers are dealing with many of the same issues, from devious advertising to mendacious propaganda." — Michael J. Socolow, The Washington Post, 16 May 2018Did you know?Mendacious and lying have very similar meanings, but the two are not interchangeable. Mendacious is more formal and literary, suggesting a deception harmless enough to be considered somewhat bland. Lying is more blunt, accusatory, and often confrontational. You might yell, "You lying rat!" in an argument, but you would most likely stick to the more diplomatic, "Aren't you being somewhat mendacious?" in a business meeting. Mendacious can also imply habitual untruthfulness, whereas lying is more likely to be used to identify specific instances of dishonesty.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 January 3, 2020 is:foible \FOY-bul\ noun1 : the part of a sword or foil blade between the middle and point2 : a minor flaw or shortcoming in character or behavior : weaknessExamples:"From family foibles to practical jokes to heritage-based barbs, we embrace it all with laughter and shrugs. Everybody's got skeletons in their closet; we might as well laugh." — Paula Brewer, The Bangor (Maine) Daily News, 22 Nov. 2019"Stand-up comedians, those unvarnished truth tellers and astute observers of human nature, are funniest when they mine their own human foibles for laughs, with bonus points for relatability." — The Las Vegas Weekly, 20 Nov. 2019Did you know?In the 1600s, English speakers borrowed the French word foible to refer to the weakest part of the sword or foil, that part being the portion between the middle and the pointed tip. Despite the superficial resemblance, foible does not come from foil. The French foible was an adjective meaning "weak." (That French word, which is now obsolete, is derived from the same Old French term, feble, which gave us feeble.) The English foible soon came to be applied not only to weaknesses in blades but also to minor failings in character. It appeared in print with that use in the 17th century, and now the "character flaw" sense is considerably more popular than the original sword application.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 January 2, 2020 is:cosmeticize \kahz-MET-uh-syze\ verb: to make (something unpleasant or ugly) superficially attractiveExamples:The documentary takes a hard look at life in the camp, never once cosmeticizing the experience of its inhabitants. "This time around, [Florian Henckel] von Donnersmarck is striving to deliver an epic that's palatable to wider audiences. But in cosmeticizing the painter's life, making this more of a love story crossed with wartime intrigue, he has overshot his target. With a little more truth, Never Look Away could have been really beautiful." — Andrea Gronvall, The Chicago Reader, 15 Feb. 2019Did you know?Cosmeticize first appeared in print in the early 19th century as a descendant of the noun cosmetic. Originally, its use was often literal, with the meaning "to apply a cosmetic to," but today it is more frequently used figuratively. Cosmeticize does occasionally draw criticism; usage commentators are sometimes irritated by verbs coined using -ize as they can sound like silly nonce words. Cosmeticize is fairly well established, however, in contrast with the two other rarer verbs that have been derived from cosmetic: cosmetize and the homograph cosmetic, which often turn up in literal senses ("cosmetize the face"; "a face cosmeticked with bright rouge").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 January 1, 2020 is:redux \ree-DUKS\ adjective: brought back—used postpositivelyExamples:Following a spell of unseasonably warm weather in late March, April felt like winter redux as temperatures plunged back below freezing."With No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama facing off in the 'Game of the Century' redux, ticket prices are surging to levels rarely seen across college football." — Jeff Nowak, The New Orleans Advocate, 5 Nov. 2019Did you know?In Latin, redux (from the verb reducere, meaning "to lead back") can mean "brought back" or "bringing back." The Romans used redux as an epithet for the goddess Fortuna with its "bringing back" meaning; Fortuna Redux was trusted to bring those far from home back safely. It was the "brought back" meaning that made its way into English. Redux belongs to a small class of English adjectives that are always used postpositively—that is, they always follow the words they modify. Redux has a history of showing up in titles of English works, such as John Dryden's Astraea Redux (a 17th-century poem on the happy restoration and return of the majestic Charles the Second), Anthony Trollope's 19th-century Phineas Redux, and John Updike's 20th-century Rabbit Redux.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 December 31, 2019 is:shindig \SHIN-dig\ noun1 a : a social gathering with dancingb : a usually large or lavish party2 : fracas, uproarExamples:"In the program notes, director Isaac Lamb says he's aiming for the vibe of a ceilidh—an impromptu Irish shindig with instruments, singing, dancing and booze." — Lee Williams, The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), 11 Oct. 2019"Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin tied the knot for the second time, one year after legally getting married in a New York City courthouse. The star-studded shindig took place in South Carolina … with a weekend of festivities culminating in a ceremony and reception for 150 guests." — Jordan Julian, The Daily Beast, 2 Oct. 2019Did you know?At a glance, shindig appears to combine shin and dig, and thus might seem to suggest a painful kick to the leg—especially when you know that one of the first senses of shindig in English refers to a gathering at which people dance. It is more likely, however, that shindig is an alteration of shindy, which is itself the alteration of another word, shinny, used of a variation of hockey that is played with a curved stick and a ball or block of wood. It's not entirely clear how the game of shinny gave shindy its first meaning (the "social gathering with dancing" meaning that is also the original meaning of shindig) but shinny remains the most likely origin.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 December 30, 2019 is:penultimate \pih-NUL-tuh-mut\ adjective1 : next to the last2 : of or relating to the next to the last syllable of a wordExamples:The penultimate episode of the TV series features some shocking plot twists that set up what will surely be a thrilling series finale."There aren't too many players in [Major League Baseball] history who come to the plate in a game with their statue overlooking them from the outfield concourse. But such was the case in Paul Konerko's final two MLB games. The White Sox unveiled his statue on the left field concourse on September 27, 2014 prior to his penultimate game." — Chris Kamka, NBC Sports Chicago, 18 Nov. 2019Did you know?Penultimate isn't the last word in words for things that are next to last. There is a pair of noun synonyms that are used commonly enough to have gained entry into abridged dictionaries: penult and penultima. Although all three can refer to something that's next to last, penult and penultima are usually a bit more specific; they are used most often to identify the next to last syllable of a word. All three derive from paenultima, a Latin root from paene ("almost") and ultima ("last"). You may occasionally hear the word penultimate used as an intensified version of ultimate, as in "a race they've called 'the penultimate challenge.'" This use isn't typically found in edited prose, however, or in dictionaries. One of our editors discusses it in this video.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 December 29, 2019 is:gallivant \GAL-uh-vant\ verb1 informal : to travel, roam, or move about for pleasure2 dated, informal : to go about usually ostentatiously or indiscreetly with members of the opposite sexExamples:After graduating from college, Maureen spent a year gallivanting all over before coming back home to find a job."'Star Wars' films have gallivanted all over galaxies far, far away, but the stories have remained Skywalker-adjacent, or at least tangentially connected to the narrative introduced decades ago in the original trilogy." — Jeremy Egner, The New York Times, 19 Nov. 2019Did you know?Back in the 14th century, gallant, a noun borrowed from the French galant, denoted a young man of fashion. By the middle of the next century, it was being used more specifically to refer to such a man who was attentive to, and who had a fondness for the company of, women. In the late 1600s, this "ladies' man" sense gave rise to the verb gallant to describe the process a paramour used to win a lady's heart, and "to gallant" became synonymous with "to court." Etymologists think that the spelling of the verb gallant was altered to create gallivant, which originally meant "to act as a gallant" or "to go about usually ostentatiously or indiscreetly with members of the opposite sex." Nowadays, however, gallivant is more likely to describe wandering than romancing.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 December 28, 2019 is:impervious \im-PER-vee-us\ adjective1 a : not allowing entrance or passage : impenetrable b : not capable of being damaged or harmed2 : not capable of being affected or disturbedExamples:"Because porcelain is impervious to water, stains and temperature changes, it's a durable and practical choice for high-traffic areas." — Michelle Brunner, The Washington Post, 14 Oct. 2019"I happen to love long trips.… No one could be more excited than I am about the chance to sit for an extended stretch of time, Wi-Fi-less, in business class with access to dozens of movies and TV shows that you would never pay to watch at home. I am impervious to jet lag! Sleep is for losers." — Sarah Lyall, The New York Times, 13 Nov. 2019Did you know?The English language is far from impervious, and, of course, a great many Latinate terms have entered it throughout its history. Impervious is one of the many that broke through in the 17th century. It comes from the Latin impervius, which adds the prefix im- to pervius, meaning "passable" or "penetrable." Pervius—which is also the source of the relatively uncommon English word pervious, meaning "accessible" or "permeable"—comes from per-, meaning "through," and via, meaning "way."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 December 27, 2019 is:punctilio \punk-TILL-ee-oh\ noun1 : a minute detail of conduct in a ceremony or in observance of a code2 : careful observance of forms (as in social conduct)Examples:"It is hard to write a novel in a Christian setting in such a secular age; 'The End of the Affair' manages to make even the punctilios of Catholic doctrine feel profoundly relevant." — Alex Preston, The Independent, 17 Feb. 2012"At picnics, lawn-parties, little country gatherings of all sorts, she was, in her own quiet, natural manner, always the presiding spirit of general comfort and general friendship. Even the rigid laws of country punctilio relaxed before her unaffected cheerfulness and irresistible good-nature." — Wilkie Collins, Basil, 1852Did you know?We'll get straight to the point: there are a number of English words that come from Latin pungere, meaning "to prick" or "to sting." Punctilio is one of these words. It traces back to pungere by way of Italian puntiglio (meaning "small point," "point of honor," or "scruple"), Spanish puntillo (the diminutive of punto, meaning "point"), and Latin punctum (also meaning "point"). The adjective punctilious, meaning "marked by or concerned about precise accordance with the details of codes or conventions," is a close relative of punctilio. Do you have any guesses for other pungere derivatives? Punctuate, puncture, compunction, punctual, and pungent are some of the more common ones.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 December 26, 2019 is:whipsaw \WIP-saw\ verb1 : to saw with a whipsaw2 : to beset or victimize in two opposite ways at once, by two-phase operation, or by the collusive action of two opponentsExamples:The community has been growing steadily safer and more prosperous after years of being whipsawed by climbing crime rates and plunging employment."In a study that is bound to be controversial—and confusing for consumers who feel whipsawed by conflicting nutrition advice—researchers from seven countries have reported finding few health benefits associated with cutting back on red or processed meats." — Mari A. Schaefer, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 30 Sept. 2019Did you know?A whipsaw is a type of hand-powered saw worked by two people, one of whom stands on or above the log being sawed and the other below it, usually in a pit. The tool dates back to the 15th century, but it was not until the 19th century that anyone thought to use the saw's name figuratively to describe situations in which someone or something is doubly "cut," or hurt. Today, the word is commonly used when discussing financial crises or losses as well as ideological changes (as in government policy) that might "cut."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 December 25, 2019 is:evergreen \EV-er-green\ adjective1 : having foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season 2 a : retaining freshness or interest : perennialb : universally and continually relevant : not limited in applicability to a particular event or dateExamples:"For years, it was assumed that in order to have a garden of constant color, you needed to plant vivid annual flowers in every season. This was a somewhat costly proposition, however, especially when compared to a garden of evergreen and colorful succulents, where red, blue, yellow, green, pink and gold are on display 365 days a year." — Joshua Siskin, The Orange County (California) Register, 29 Oct. 2019"Pinterest, in particular, is a great place for sharing evergreen content like recipes or DIY tutorials…." — Danielle Wiley, Adweek, 12 Dec. 2018Did you know?Which adjective do you think has existed longer in English, evergreen or perennial? If you count the hyphenated form ever-green (which of course means "always green"), then evergreen is older; its earliest known use dates from the 16th century. The hyphen-free form is first seen in writing from the 17th century as an adjective as well as a noun, meaning "conifer." The earliest known use of perennial as an adjective meaning "remaining green all year long" appears in the first half of the 17th century. Evergreen also wins in the more general "long lasting" sense. It began appearing in figurative use circa mid-17th century, whereas perennial began to be used with that "enduring" meaning in the early 18th.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 December 24, 2019 is:luminaria \loo-muh-NAIR-ee-uh\ noun: a traditional Mexican Christmas lantern originally consisting of a candle set in sand inside a paper bagExamples:"Mount Vernon Avenue will be illuminated by thousands of luminarias and feature storefront windows hand-painted for the holidays." — The Alexandria (Virginia) Living Magazine, 9 Nov. 2019"The simple bag of sand with a candle inside has undergone some upgrades to keep up with the times—some people use fire-resistant bags or battery-powered candles—but the luminaria remains a part of Arizona's holiday tradition." — Weldon B. Johnson, The (Phoenix) Arizona Republic, 3 Dec. 2018Did you know?Luminaria is a fairly recent addition to English; early usage dates from the 1930s, about the time that the Mexican Christmas custom started to gain popularity among Anglo-Americans. In some parts of the U.S., particularly New Mexico, these festive lanterns are also called farolitos, which means "little lanterns" in Spanish. We borrowed luminaria from Spanish, but the word has been around with exactly the same spelling since the days of Late Latin. The term ultimately traces to the classical Latin luminare, meaning "window," and to lumen, meaning "light." It is related to other light-bearing words such as luminary, illuminate, and phillumenist (a fancy name for someone who collects matchbooks).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 December 23, 2019 is:discriminate \diss-KRIM-uh-nayt\ verb1 a : to see the special features ofb : to perceive a difference in : differentiate2 : to distinguish by discerning or exposing differences; especially : to distinguish from another like object3 : to make a difference in treatment or favor on a basis other than individual meritExamples:"Cashless restaurants … have faced criticism that they discriminate against low-income consumers who may not have bank accounts." — Leslie Patton, Bloomberg.com, 13 Nov. 2019"That evening … he was conscious of a keen desire to get away, to go abroad, to leave behind him the little chatter his resignation would be sure to produce in an age of publicity which never discriminated as to the quality of events." — Henry James, The Tragic Muse, 1890Did you know?Although many methods or motives for discriminating are unfair and undesirable (or even illegal), the verb itself has a neutral history. English speakers borrowed it from the past participle of the Latin verb discriminare (meaning "to distinguish or differentiate"), which, itself, is derived from the verb discernere, meaning "to distinguish between." Discernere, in turn, was formed by combining the prefix dis- (meaning "apart") and cernere ("to sift"). Other descendants of discernere include discern and discernible (as you no doubt guessed), discreet, and indiscretion. In addition, the root cernere gives us concern, certain, decree, and even secret.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 December 22, 2019 is:fulgent \FULL-jint\ adjective: dazzlingly bright : radiantExamples:"Reigning as queen of the ball was Miss Skylar Nicole Ballard…. Her majesty's regal ensemble included a gown of white silver lace, tulle and regency organza…. Completing the raiment were … the fulgent crown and scepter." — The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate (nola.com), 10 Feb. 2019"Goldfinches are among songbirds, like warblers, that undergo two molts a year: a complete feather molt in fall that covers them in lackluster plumage and a molt of head and body feathers excluding wings and tail in spring that adorns males in fulgent golden yellow." — Gary Clark, The Houston Chronicle, 12 Jan. 2018Did you know?"The weary Sun betook himself to rest; — / Then issued Vesper from the fulgent west." That's how the appearance of the evening star in the glowing western sky at sunset looked to 19th-century poet William Wordsworth. Fulgent was a particularly apt choice to describe the radiant light of the sky at sunset. The word derives from the Latin verb fulgēre, meaning "to shine," a root which is itself akin to the Latin flagrare, meaning "to burn." English speakers have been using fulgent to depict resplendence since at least the 15th 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 December 21, 2019 is:kowtow \KOW-tow\ verb1 : to show obsequious deference : fawn2 : to kneel and touch the forehead to the ground in token of homage, worship, or deep respectExamples:"[Cyndi] Lauper wanted a hit record. She wanted one badly after PolyGram dropped her first band Blue Angel following a failed debut in 1980. But she wouldn't kowtow to music execs in pursuit of that hit." — Jed Gottlieb, The Boston Herald, 17 Nov. 2018"I sense people are hungry for something new, and sick of fiction that lazily kowtows to the reader or, God help us, the 'market.'" — Lucy Ellmann, quoted in The New Statesman, 11 Nov. 2019Did you know?Kowtow originated as a noun referring to the act of kneeling and touching one's head to the ground as a salute or act of worship to a revered authority. In traditional China this ritual was performed by commoners making requests to the local magistrate, by the emperor to the shrine of Confucius, or by foreign representatives appearing before the emperor to establish trade relations. (In the late 18th century, some Western nations resisted performing the ritual, which acknowledged the Chinese emperor as the "son of heaven.") The word kowtow derives from Chinese koutou, formed by combining the verb kou ("to knock") with the noun tou ("head").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 December 20, 2019 is:xenophobia \zen-uh-FOH-bee-uh\ noun: fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreignExamples:"George Kennan, who served at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow…, wrote in 1947 that Soviet hostility toward the West was based upon more than Marxist ideology or traditional Russian xenophobia." — Philip Gold, Insight, 29 Dec. 1986"Although the Great Depression prompted an exodus of foreign workers—spurred in part by a wave of popular xenophobia—the presence of foreigners in France was sustained by the arrival of refugees from the Spanish Civil War." — Peter Gatrell, The Unsettling of Europe, 2019Did you know?If you look back to the ancient Greek terms that underlie the word xenophobia, you'll discover that xenophobic individuals are literally "stranger fearing." Xenophobia, that elegant-sounding name for an aversion to persons unfamiliar, ultimately derives from two Greek terms: xenos, which can be translated as either "stranger" or "guest," and phobos, which means either "fear" or "flight." Phobos is the ultimate source of all English -phobia terms, but many of those were actually coined in English or New Latin using the combining form -phobia. Xenophobia itself came to us by way of New Latin and first appeared in print in English in the late 19th 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 December 19, 2019 is:haggard \HAG-urd\ adjective1 of a hawk : not tamed2 a : wild in appearanceb : having a worn or emaciated appearance : gauntExamples:"When I met her at her subsidized apartment in the fall of 2018, she still had the haggard air of someone learning how to use the subway, navigate welfare programs, and raise two children by herself in an alien country." — Doug Bock Clark, GQ, 26 Mar. 2019"East Avenue, the town's main drag, is fronted by stately if slightly haggard red-brick buildings, including the historic Cottrill Opera House (currently raising funds for its restoration) as well as several art galleries and antiques shops…." — Anna Altman, The Washingtonian, 15 Jan. 2019Did you know?Haggard comes from falconry, the sport of hunting with a trained bird of prey. The birds used in falconry were not bred in captivity until very recently. Traditionally, falconers trained wild birds that were either taken from the nest when quite young or trapped as adults. A bird trapped as an adult is termed a haggard, from the Middle French hagard. Such a bird is notoriously wild and difficult to train, and it wasn't long before the falconry sense of haggard was being applied in an extended way to a "wild" and intractable person. Next, the word came to express the way the human face looks when a person is exhausted, anxious, or terrified. Today, the most common meaning of haggard is "gaunt" or "worn."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 December 18, 2019 is:aught \AWT\ pronoun1 : anything2 : all, everythingExamples:"Xury said it was a lion, and it might be so, for aught I know...." — Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, 1719"All the ways into this grot were then sealed against the entry of water or aught else, all save one." — J. R. R. Tolkien, The Two Towers, 1954Did you know?"If you know aught which does behove my knowledge / Thereof to be inform'd, imprison't not / In ignorant concealment," Polixenes begs Camillo in William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, employing the "anything" sense of aught. Shakespeare didn't coin the pronoun aught, which has been a part of the English language since before the 12th century, but he did put it to frequent use. Writers today may be less likely to use aught than were their literary predecessors, but the pronoun does continue to turn up occasionally. Aught can also be a noun meaning "zero," and "the aughts" is heard occasionally for the decade at the beginning of a century (say, 1900-1909 or 2000-2009) in which the penultimate digit is a zero.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 December 17, 2019 is:flibbertigibbet \flib-er-tee-JIB-ut\ noun: a silly flighty personExamples:She plays a flibbertigibbet in the movie—a character completely at odds with her real-life reputation as a prolific writer and masterful actor and director."As played by a breathless Vinny Chavez, the young prince is a petulant flibbertigibbet obsessed with visual glamor, which gets in the way of his search for a suitable princess to marry." — Kerry Lengel, The (Phoenix) Arizona Republic, 10 Nov. 2014Did you know?Flibbertigibbet is one of many incarnations of the Middle English word flepergebet, meaning "gossip" or "chatterer" (others include flybbergybe, flibber de' Jibb, and flipperty-gibbet). It is a word of onomatopoeic origin, created from sounds that were intended to represent meaningless chatter. William Shakespeare apparently saw a devilish aspect to a gossipy chatterer; he used flibbertigibbet in King Lear as the name of a devil. This use never caught on, but the devilish connotation of the word reappeared over 200 years later when Sir Walter Scott used Flibbertigibbet as the nickname of an impish urchin in the novel Kenilworth. The impish meaning derived from Scott's character was short-lived and was laid to rest by the 19th-century's end, leaving us with only the "silly flighty person" meaning.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.