Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 18, 2018 is:homiletic \hah-muh-LET-ik\ adjective1 : of, relating to, or resembling a homily2 : of or relating to the art of preaching; also : preachyExamples:"The first part is full of homiletic insight, the second replete with postmodern angst, the third quite beautiful in its claim to faith—even the somewhat attenuated faith of our present age." — Paul Lakeland, Commonweal, 23 Apr. 2010"Holbein was wonderfully fresh, but the concept stemmed from a 1280 poem, Le Dit des trois morts et les trois vifs, by Baudoin de Condé. Condé’s concept of a homiletic interchange between feckless living and ghastly dead transmuted swiftly into other languages and pictorial art across Europe." — Derek Turner, The New York Times, 5 Dec. 2017Did you know?Homiletic came to us by way of Latin from Greek homilētikos, meaning "affable" or "social." Homilētikos came from homilein, meaning "to talk with," "to address," or "to make a speech," which in turn came from homilos, the Greek word for "crowd" or "assembly." Homilos and homilein also gave English, by way of Latin homilia and French omelie, the word homily, which is used for a short sermon, a lecture on a moral theme, and an inspirational catchphrase or platitude. Like homily, homiletic focuses on the morally instructive nature of a discourse. Homiletic can also be used derogatorily in the sense of "preachy."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, 2018 is:famish \FAM-ish\ verb1 : to cause to suffer severely from hunger2 : to suffer for lack of something necessaryExamples:"At first Bartleby did an extraordinary quantity of writing. As if long famishing for something to copy, he seemed to gorge himself on my documents. There was no pause for digestion." — Herman Melville, "Bartleby the Scrivener," 1853"Eating healthy regularly is more important than famishing to shed a few pounds." — Emily Long, The Daily Vidette: Illinois State University, 23 Aug. 2017Did you know?Famish likely developed as an alteration of Middle English famen, meaning "to starve." The Middle English word was borrowed from the Anglo-French verb afamer, which etymologists believe came from Vulgar Latin affamare. We say "believe" because, while no written evidence has yet been found for the Vulgar Latin word affamare, it would be the expected source for the Anglo-French verb based on the combination of the Latin prefix ad- ("to" or "toward") and the root noun fames ("hunger"). In contemporary English, the verb famish is still used on occasion, but it is considerably less common than the related adjective famished, which usually means "hungry" or "starving" but can also mean "needy" or "being in want."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, 2018 is:adapt \uh-DAPT\ verb: to make or become fit (as for a new use) often by modification Examples:It took Rachel a while to adapt to her new school, but she is settling in well now."Hydroponics and aeroponics require vigilant monitoring of nutrient solution. While this can be time consuming, Tiger Corner Farms has fully automated this process by adapting warehouse management software to adjust nutrient levels, pH and other environmental parameters." — Tony Bertauski, The Post & Courier (Charleston, South Carolina), 29 Nov. 2017Did you know?Rooted in the origins of adapt is the idea of becoming specifically fit for something. English speakers adapted adapt in the 15th century from the Middle French adapter, which was borrowed, in turn, from the Latin adaptāre,a combination of the Latin prefix ad- ("to, toward") and the verb aptāre, meaning "to put into position, bring to bear, make ready." Aptāre is a verbal derivative of aptus, meaning "fit" or "apt." Other descendants of aptus in English include aptitude, inept, and of course apt itself, as well as unapt and inapt.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, 2018 is:intrepid \in-TREP-id\ adjective: characterized by resolute fearlessness, fortitude, and enduranceExamples:"An intrepid engineer is on the edge of fulfilling his dream of conquering the world's toughest mountaineering challenge. Peter Sunnucks, 35, will be joined by his wife Elizabeth Wood when he heads to Antarctica in two weeks' time to try to scale the last of seven of the earth's highest peaks." — Russell Blackstock, The Sunday Post (Dundee, Scotland), 14 Nov. 2017"A series of disappearances echoes events from 33 years before, and an intrepid teenager, Jonas (Louis Hofmann, steady at the center of the large cast), sets off into the caverns under the plant to solve the mystery." — Mike Hale, The New York Times, 5 Dec. 2017Did you know?You need not be afraid to find out the origins of today's word, although its history does include fear. Intrepid derives from the Latin word intrepidus, itself formed by the combination of the prefix in- (meaning "not") and trepidus, meaning "alarmed." Other relatives of trepidus in English include trepidation and trepidatious, as well as trepid (which actually predates intrepid and means "fearful"). Synonyms for intrepid include courageous, valiant, fearless, valorous, and simply brave. Intrepid aptly describes anyone—from explorers to reporters—who ventures bravely into unknown territory, though often you'll see the word loaded with irony, as in "an intrepid volunteer sampled the entries at the pie bake-off."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, 2018 is:demiurge \DEM-ee-erj\ noun: one that is an autonomous creative force or decisive powerExamples:"But it is difficult to create a world, even a tiny one, and some authors are more successful than others at playing demiurge…." — Sergio Ruzzier, The New York Times, 9 Oct. 2016"Gladstone, a formidable chancellor though an indifferent prime minister, was certainly an intellectual. Like Churchill, however, he was unclassifiable. Such demiurges transcend categories." — Bruce Anderson, The Daily Telegraph (London), 8 May 2014Did you know?In the Platonic school of philosophy, the Demiurge is a deity who fashions the physical world in the light of eternal ideas. In the Timaeus, Plato credits the Demiurge with taking preexisting materials of chaos and arranging them in accordance with the models of eternal forms. Nowadays, the word demiurge can refer to the individual or group chiefly responsible for a creative idea, as in "the demiurge behind the new hit TV show." Demiurge derives, via Late Latin, from Greek dēmiourgos, meaning "artisan," or "one with special skill." The demi- part of the word comes from the Greek noun dēmos, meaning "people"; the second part comes from the word for worker, ergon. Despite its appearance, it is unrelated to the word urge.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, 2018 is:stanch \STAUNCH\ verb1 : to check or stop the flowing of; also : to stop the flow of blood from (a wound)2 a : to stop or check in its courseb : to make watertight : stop upExamples:The company's CEO gave the keynote address at the convention, stanching rumors that he was not recovering well from his surgery."Firefighters watched the smoke and assessed wind patterns, raking dead leaves and branches away from the blaze in hopes of stanching its charge once again." — Alissa Greenberg, The Washington Post, 13 Oct. 2017Did you know?The verb stanch has a lot in common with the adjective staunch, meaning "steadfast." Not only do both words derive from the Anglo-French word estancher (which has the same meaning as stanch), but the spelling "s-t-a-n-c-h" is sometimes used for the adjective, and the spelling "s-t-a-u-n-c-h" is sometimes used for the verb. Although both spelling variants have been in reputable use for centuries and both are perfectly standard for either the verb or adjective, stanch is the form used most often for the verb and staunch is the most common variant for the adjective.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, 2018 is:reprehensible \rep-rih-HEN-suh-bul\ adjective: worthy of or deserving reprehension, blame, or censure : culpableExamples:The newspaper's most recent editorial calls for the mayor's resignation, citing the most recent accusations of bribery as both plausible and reprehensible."As a practical matter, successful hostile environment lawsuits involve two distinct components. Harassment is only the first. The second is the company's failure to respond effectively after learning about it, which is what turns reprehensible on-the-job behavior into job discrimination." — Joel Jacobsen, The Albuquerque Journal, 11 Dec. 2017Did you know?Reprehensible, blameworthy, blamable, guilty, and culpable mean deserving reproach or punishment. Reprehensible is a strong word describing behavior that should evoke severe criticism. Blameworthy and blamable apply to any kind of act, practice, or condition considered to be wrong in any degree ("conduct adjudged blameworthy"; "an accident for which no one is blamable"). Guilty implies responsibility for or consciousness of crime, sin, or, at the least, grave error or misdoing ("guilty of a breach of etiquette"). Culpable is weaker than guilty and is likely to connote malfeasance or errors of ignorance, omission, or negligence ("culpable neglect").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, 2018 is:placate \PLAY-kayt\ verb: to soothe or mollify especially by concessions : appeaseExamples:"Laughlin can placate even the most skittish of horses, coaxing them into his trailer with sugar cubes…." — Lizzie Johnson, The San Francisco Chronicle, 7 Dec. 2017"While reviews from riders have been generally positive, there have been complaints about boats running late and being so full that they leave people behind. City officials said they hope to placate riders by next summer with a bigger fleet." — Patrick McGeehan, The New York Times, 29 Nov. 2017Did you know?The earliest documented uses of the verb _placate_ in English date from the late 17th century. The word is derived from Latin placatus, the past participle of placare, and placate still carries the basic meaning of its Latin ancestor: "to soothe" or "to appease." Other placare descendants in English are implacable (meaning "not easily soothed or satisfied") and placation ("the act of soothing or appeasing"). Even please itself, derived from Latin placēre ("to please"), is a distant relative of placate.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, 2018 is:cohort \KOH-hort\ noun1 : companion, colleague2 a : band, groupb : a group of individuals having a statistical factor (such as age or class membership) in common in a demographic studyc : one of 10 divisions of an ancient Roman legiond : a group of warriors or soldiersExamples:"A cohort of chambermaids would descend twice daily with mops, brooms, and fresh towels in tow." — Doone Beale, Gourmet, April 1989"But among those aged 65 to 74 years old, more than three-quarters had registered and 70 percent voted—a proportion that dropped only slightly in older cohorts." — Paula Span, The New York Times, 28 Nov. 2017Did you know?In ancient times, a cohort was a military unit, one of ten divisions in a Roman legion. The term passed into English in the 15th century, when it was used in translations and writings about Roman history. Once cohort became established in our language, its meaning was extended, first to refer to any body of troops, then to any group of individuals with something in common, and later to a single companion. Some usage commentators have objected to this last sense because it can be hard to tell whether the plural refers to different individuals or different groups. The "companion" sense is well established in standard use, however, and its meaning is clear enough in such sentences as "her cohorts came along with her to the game."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, 2018 is:officinal \uh-FISS-uh-nul\ adjective: tending or used to cure disease or relieve pain : medicinalExamples:The plant turned out to have officinal properties and could be used to make an anti-itch ointment."Europe's mania for rhubarb in the second half of the eighteenth century energized the drive to find the plant in its native habitat. Was this plant … the very same one that for so long had provided the officinal root for European pharmacies? — Clifford M. Foust, Rhubarb: The Wondrous Drug, 1992Did you know?Officinal is a word applied in medicine to plants and herbs that are used in medicinal preparations. For most of the 19th century, it was the standard word used by the United States Pharmacopeia to refer to the drugs, chemicals, and medicinal preparations that they recognized, but by the 1870s it was replaced by official in this context. Despite this supersession, you still can find a healthy dose of officinal in the pharmaceutical field, where it is used today as a word describing preparations that are regularly kept in stock at pharmacies. Officinal was derived from the Medieval Latin noun officina, a word for the storeroom of a monastery in which provisions and medicines were kept. In Latin, officina means "workshop."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, 2018 is:mutatis mutandis \myoo-TAH-tis-myoo-TAHN-dis\ adverb1 : with the necessary changes having been made2 : with the respective differences having been consideredExamples:"I know nothing more contemptible in a writer than the character of a plagiary; which he here fixes at a venture, and this not for a passage but a whole discourse taken out from another book, only mutatis mutandis." — Jonathan Swift, The Tale of a Tub, 1704"And Knausgaard's abandonment of literary conceit is itself a literary conceit…. A given sentence may or may not shine, but in its riverine accumulations, 'My Struggle' is as purposefully shaped, as beautifully patterned and, yes, as artfully compressed as any novel in recent memory. The same is true, mutatis mutandis, of 'Autumn.'" — Garth Risk Hallberg, The New York Times, 1 Oct. 2017Did you know?Unlike most English terms with Latin parentage, mutatis mutandis (which translates literally as "things having been changed that have to be changed") maintains its Latinate aspect entirely. It doesn't look like an English phrase, which is perhaps why it remains rather uncommon despite having functioned in English since the 16th century. Although the phrase is used in the specialized fields of law, philosophy, and economics when analogous situations are discussed, it appears in other contexts, too, where analogy occurs, as this quote from Henry James' The American demonstrates: "Roderick made an admirable bust of her at the beginning of the winter, and a dozen women came rushing to him to be done, mutatis mutandis, in the same style."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, 2018 is:gainsay \gayn-SAY\ verb1 : to declare to be untrue or invalid2 : contradict, opposeExamples:There is no doubt that their work makes a useful contribution, but it does not provide enough evidence to gainsay the conclusions of earlier scholars."There is no gainsaying the fact that we have an obesity problem in the United States." — Amitrajeet A. Batabyal, The Buffalo News, 9 Dec. 2015Did you know?You might have trouble figuring out gainsay if you're thinking of our modern gain plus say. It should help to know that the gain- part is actually related to against—specifically the Old English prefix gēan- ("against, in opposition to"). From that came Middle English gain-, which was joined with sayen ("to say") to form gainsayen, the Middle English predecessor of gainsay. So when you see gainsay, think "to say against"—that is, "to deny" or "to contradict."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, 2018 is:vapid \VAP-id\ adjective: lacking flavor, zest, animation, or spirit : flat, dullExamples:Finn liked to watch the game in silence, with the TV on mute, rather than listen to the vapid chatter of the play-by-play announcer."The vapid, upbeat bubblegum tone of the song never wavers, even as the women … run down a truly horrifying-in-its-ordinariness list of all the things women have to put up with every … day." — Dennis Perkins, The A.V. Club, 3 Dec. 2017Did you know?"Then away goes the brisk and pleasant Spirits and leave a vapid or sour Drink." So wrote John Mortimer—an early 18th-century expert on agriculture, orchards, and cider-making—in his book on husbandry. His use was typical for his day, when vapid was often used specifically in reference to liquor. The term comes from Latin vapidus, meaning "flat-tasting," a possible relative of vapor. That use still occurs today; you might, for example, hear an uninspiring wine described as vapid. More likely you'll hear vapid, along with the synonyms insipid, flat, and inane, describe people and things that lack spirit and character.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 5, 2018 is:bindle stiff \BIN-dul-stiff\ noun: hobo; especially : one who carries his clothes or bedding in a bundleExamples:"A bindle stif_ smoked in the partly open doorway of a Rock Island boxcar, nothing supernatural about him." — John Farris, Phantom Nights, 2005"Like Alamosa, Durango and Chama, the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad created Salida, a sooty town complete with coal dust, tired railroad workers and the occasional bindle stiff or hobo who walked down the tracks looking for handouts." — Andrew Gulliford, The Durango (Colorado) Herald, 12 Apr. 2015Did you know?In the argot of tramps and hoboes, a roll of clothes and bedding was called a bindle, a word that probably originated as an alteration of the more familiar bundle. Stiff itself can mean "hobo" or "migrant worker," meanings it took on in the late 19th century. About the same time, any tramp or hobo who habitually carried such a pack was known as a bindle stiff. In Australia, a pack-carrying hobo might be called a swagman.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, 2018 is:hornswoggle \HORN-swah-gul\ verb: bamboozle, hoaxExamples:"Grass-fed is an unregulated term with no standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This can add to the confusion for home cooks already trying to avoid getting hornswoggled by advertising claims (look what happened to the heavily abused word 'natural')." — Jennifer Rude Klett, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 19 Apr. 2017"An unsuccessful indie actress … tries to hornswoggle a celebrity into appearing in the film she's making as a last-ditch attempt to rescue her career." — Dave Kehr, The New York Times, 5 May 2013Did you know?Hornswoggle is a slang word of some considerable mystery, at least where its etymology is concerned. The word appears to have originated in the southern United States in the early 19th century. The earliest known written record comes from an 1829 issue of The Virginia Literary Magazine in its glossary of Americanisms. The magazine states that hornswoggle came from Kentucky, and its oddness matches nicely with other 19th-century Americanisms, such as sockdolager, absquatulate, callithump, slumgullion, and skedaddle. While the exact point at which hornswoggle entered our language, and the way in which it was formed, may remain unknown, it is a charming addition to our language, joining bamboozle and honeyfuggle as colorful ways to say "to deceive."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, 2018 is:sacerdotal \sass-er-DOH-tul\ adjective1 : of or relating to priests or a priesthood : priestly2 : of, relating to, or suggesting religious belief emphasizing the powers of priests as essential mediators between God and humankindExamples:The priest gives a homily after reciting the Gospel as part of his sacerdotal duties."… as they approached, the priest, dressed in his sacerdotal garments, made his appearance…." — Sir Walter Scott, Quentin Durward, 1823Did you know?Sacerdotal is one of a host of English words derived from the Latin adjective sacer, meaning "sacred." Other words derived from sacer include desecrate, sacrifice, sacrilege, consecrate, sacrament, and even execrable (developed from the Latin word exsecrari, meaning "to put under a curse"). One surprising sacer descendant is sacrum, referring to the series of five vertebrae in the lower back connected to the pelvis. In Latin this bone was called the os sacrum, or "holy bone," a translation of the Greek hieron osteon.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, 2018 is:accentuate \ak-SEN-shu-wayt\ verb: accent, emphasize; also : intensifyExamples:"But his voice is so singular in aura that nothing appears to be missing.… He hints at the style of a balladeer, or even of a cabaret singer—an effect accentuated by the pointed use of rolled 'r's." — Alexander M. Ross, The New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2017"Gradually, television coverage accentuated spectacle; the use of slow motion, instant replay, and pre- and post-game shows turned the football contest into high drama, and heightened attention to the celebrity status of individual players." — USA Today, 1 Sept. 2017Did you know?When you accentuate something, you put an "accent" (or emphasis) on it. So it will come as no surprise to learn that etymologists have traced accentuate back to accentus, the Latin word for accent. Accentus, in turn, combines the prefix ad- with cantus, meaning "song." Other descendants of accentus in English include accent itself, as well as accentual ("of, relating to, or characterized by accent").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, 2018 is:fete \FAYT\ noun1 : festival2 a : a lavish often outdoor entertainmentb : a large elaborate partyExamples:To celebrate her parents' 50th wedding anniversary, Eileen threw an evening fete to which she invited all their friends and family members."Proceeds from the fete will help build specially adapted smart homes for our nation's most catastrophically injured service members." — Carol Ann Benanti, The Staten Island (New York) Advance, 11 Nov. 2017Did you know?Fete is a word worth celebrating. It's been around since Middle English, when it was used in a manuscript to refer to "fetes, spectacles and other worldly vanytees." Since the 19th century, fete has been doing double duty, also serving as a verb meaning "to honor or commemorate with a fete." You can honor fete by remembering that it entered English from Middle French, and that it derives ultimately from the Old French feste, meaning "festival"—a root that, not surprisingly, also gave English the word feast. Because of its French ties, you will sometimes see fete spelled with a circumflex above the first e (fête), as that's how it appears in that language.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, 2017 is:antithetical \an-tuh-THET-ih-kul\ adjective1 : being in direct and unequivocal opposition : directly opposite or opposed2 : constituting or marked by antithesis : pertaining to the rhetorical contrast of ideas by means of parallel arrangements of words, clauses, or sentencesExamples:"It's telling that the library at the Circle is a gorgeous but unused relic: Being alone with a book is something antithetical to the plugged-in networking that preoccupies the company's workers." — David Mikics, The New York Times, 3 Jan. 2014"By doubling, and in some cases tripling, the entrance fees, the National Park Service would absolutely limit access to some of the country's most majestic places. That's antithetical to the parks' mission. It's also completely unnecessary." — The San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Nov. 2017Did you know?Antithetical and antithesis entered English in the 16th century. Their etymological paths pass through Late Latin and ultimately lead to Greek (the Greek words antitithenai and antithesis mean "to oppose" and "opposition," respectively). The oldest sense of the English antithesis refers to a language pattern that contrasts parallel ideas, as in "action, not words" or "a time to plant, a time to reap." Antithetical can mean "constituting or marked by such language patterns." For example, you could say "The phrase 'action, not words' is an antithetical construction." In its more frequent use, however, antithetical describes something that contradicts the logic or spirit of something else (as in "a policy antithetical to the company's mission").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, 2017 is:spiel \SPEEL\ noun: a voluble line of often extravagant talk : a speech delivered especially to sell or promote somethingExamples:We let the time-share salesman give us his opening spiel, but when he got to the high-pressure sales tactics, we cut him short and made it clear that we were not interested."Instead of the usual spiel about what equipment to purchase or what software to install, I find that it is critical that people … have the right mindset when communicating with those who are on the front lines of preventing cyber attacks." — William H. Saito, Forbes, 8 Aug. 2017Did you know?There's more than one spiel. Today's featured noun sense is well-known, and many of our readers may also be aware that spiel can be used as a verb for the act of talking extravagantly. But did you know that the verb can also mean "to play music"? That, in fact, is the word's original meaning—one it shares with its German root, spielen. (Spiel is also found in glockenspiel, a musical instrument similar to the xylophone.) In Scottish English, spiel is also sometimes used as a shortened form of bonspiel, a name for a match or tournament of the icy game of curling.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, 2017 is:pooh-bah \POO-bah\ noun1 : a person holding many public or private offices2 : a person in high position or of great influenceExamples:"Samuel Goldwyn was so impressed with the film, he sent a fan letter to Paramount's grand pooh-bah, Barney Balaban…." — Sam Irvin, Kay Thompson: From Funny Face to Eloise, 2010"One day, Silicon Valley pooh-bahs may persuade the safe-space generation to completely abandon personal driving. Until that time, the car will persist as a symbol of freedom and the American automotive industry will endure as a major economic player." — Jonathan Kellerman, The New York Times, 9 July 2017Did you know?The original Pooh-Bah was an arrogant, buffoonish bureaucrat introduced in the 1885 Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Mikado. In that show, the character Pooh-Bah, whose title is "Lord High Everything Else," very "humbly" agrees to accept several important government offices (and their salaries) after a series of officials resign. He'll do anything if the bribe is big enough, and he loves to strut and show off to anyone who might be impressed by his grandeur. It didn't take English speakers long to adopt pooh-bah as a term for someone who holds either many offices or a high position, and the word still often carries a suggestion of pompousness.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, 2017 is:debilitate \dih-BIL-uh-tayt\ verb: to impair the strength of : enfeebleExamples:The company offers exercises and writing prompts that promise to help would-be novelists debilitated by writer's block get words onto the page."No matter how much Dolly tries to engineer things in her favor, she's forever an outsider—a widow suffering from, though not debilitated by, loneliness—and the only person who would understand how she feels is her dead husband, Ephraim." — Hilton Als, The New Yorker, 1 May 2017Did you know?Debilitate, enfeeble, undermine, and sap all share the general sense "to weaken." But while debilitate holds the distinction among these words of coming from the Latin word for "weak"—debilis—it packs a potent punch. Often used of disease or something that strikes like a disease or illness, debilitate might suggest a temporary impairment—but a pervasive one at that. Enfeeble, a very close synonym of debilitate, connotes a pitiable, but often reversible, condition of weakness and helplessness. Undermine and sap suggest a weakening by something working surreptitiously and insidiously.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, 2017 is:hortative \HOR-tuh-tiv\ adjective: giving exhortation : serving to advise or warnExamples:"None can understand or interpret Michelangelo unless we recognise the extent to which the mysticism of Catholic faith coloured his beliefs and work…. [If] we look back to the Pietà in St Peter's, finished when he was only 24, we find an image of such profound piety and sympathy that crowds fall silent in its presence without any hortative 'Silenzio!'" — Brian Sewell, The Evening Standard (London), 24 Mar. 2006"But it's important to remember that 'Jersey Shore' is on MTV, a youth-oriented cable channel that has a hortative streak: series like 'Teen Mom' and 'If You Really Knew Me' carry a strong 'don't try this at home' message." — Alessandra Stanley, The New York Times, 20 Aug. 2010Did you know?"We give nothing so freely as advice," observed French writer Duc de La Rochefoucauld in 1665. Hortative and exhort (meaning "to urge earnestly") are two words that testify to our eagerness to counsel others. Both trace to Latin hortari, meaning "to urge." Hortative has been used as both a noun (meaning "an advisory comment") and an adjective since the 17th century, but the noun is now extremely rare. You may also encounter the adjectives hortatory, exhortatory, and exhortative, all of which have the same meaning as hortative.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, 2017 is:abeyance \uh-BAY-unss\ noun1 : a state of temporary activity : suspension — used chiefly in the phrase in abeyance2 : a lapse in succession during which there is no person in whom a title is vestedExamples:The misdemeanor charges are in abeyance while the suspect is being prosecuted for the felony."The 1950–53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, so hostilities have merely been in abeyance." — Rick Gladstone and David E. Sanger, The New York Times, 26 Sept. 2017Did you know?Abeyance has something in common with yawn. Today, yawn implies sleep or boredom, but years ago it could also signify longing or desire ("Full many men know I that yawn and gape after some fat and rich benefice" —Thomas Hoccleve, 1420). The Old French word for "yawn" was baer, which joined the prefix a- ("in a state or condition of") to form abaer, a verb meaning "to expect" or "await." There followed Anglo-French abeyance, which referred to a state of expectation—specifically, a person's expectation of inheriting a title or property. But when we adopted abeyance into English in the 16th century, we applied the expectation to the property itself: a property or title "in abeyance" is in temporary limbo, waiting to be claimed by a rightful heir or owner.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, 2017 is:conciliate \kun-SILL-ee-ayt\ verb1 : appease2 : to gain (as goodwill) by pleasing acts3 : to make compatible : reconcile4 : to become friendly or agreeableExamples:"He paused, half hopefully, half timidly, whenever Captain Whalley made the slightest movement in the deck-chair, as though expecting to be conciliated by a soft speech or else rushed upon and hunted off the bridge." — Joseph Conrad, The End of the Tether, 1902"The notion of celebrating the American worker first surfaced in the early 19th century during the infancy of the American labor movement. Unfortunately, it took a nationwide railroad strike of nearly 4,000 factory employees … to get things started.… In an effort to conciliate organized labor after the strike, President Cleveland and Congress joined forces to declare Labor Day a national holiday." — Michelle Wilson, The Tallahassee (Florida) Democrat, 1 Sept. 2017Did you know?A council is "an assembly or meeting for consultation, advice, or discussion," and it is often the task of a council to find compatibility in opposing views. It seems fitting, therefore, that the words council and conciliate both derive from the Latin word concilium, which means "assembly" or "council." Conciliate comes to us from the Latin conciliatus, the past participle of the verb conciliare (meaning "to assemble, unite, win over"), which in turn is from concilium. Council, on the other hand, derives from the Anglo-French cunseil or cuncile, from concilium. Other concilium descendants in English include conciliar ("of, relating to, or issued by a council") and the rare conciliabule ("a clandestine meeting especially of conspirators or rebels").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, 2017 is:nativity \nuh-TIH-vuh-tee\ noun1 : the process or circumstances of being born; especially, capitalized : the birth of Jesus2 : a horoscope at or of the time of one's birth3 : the place of originExamples:"The immutability of one's nativity may be why so many are drawn to astrology—according to a 2009 Harris Poll, a full 26 percent of Americans believe in astrology…." — Elijah Wolfson, The Atlantic, 15 Nov. 2013"'Peace Child' presents the nativity as a historical event and yet speaks to us today through powerful imagery and challenging words to remind us that the true meaning of Christmas is peace." — Cathy SooHoo, The Chicago Daily Herald, 16 Nov. 2017Did you know?Nativity is one of many words born of the Latin verb nasci, which means "to be born." The gestation of the word was a long one. Nasci developed in Latin into nativitas, meaning "birth," which passed through Anglo-French as nativité before entering English in the 14th century. Nativity has many siblings and cousins in our language; other terms of the lineage of nasci include cognate, innate, nascent, native, and renaissance.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, 2017 is:flamboyant \flam-BOY-ant\ adjective: marked by or given to strikingly elaborate or colorful display or behaviorExamples:The circus performers were easily identifiable by their flamboyant costumes and stage makeup."When costume designer Meredith Markworth-Pollack began working on a modern-day reboot of the 1980s soap 'Dynasty'—which debuts Wednesday evening on the CW—she wanted to pay homage to the original series' flashy, flamboyant fashions." — Raquel Laneri, The New York Post, 9 Oct. 2017Did you know?If you've ever heard of a dessert served flambé, you already have some insight into the origins of today's word. Flamboyant, which was borrowed into English from French in the 19th century, can be traced back to Old French flambe, meaning "flame." In its earliest uses flamboyant referred to a style of architecture, often in the florid French Gothic style, which featured waving curves that suggested flames. Eventually, the word developed a more general second sense for anything eye-catching or showy. And of course, Old French flambe is also the origin of the English adjective flambé.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, 2017 is:vespertine \VESS-per-tyne\ adjective1 : of, relating to, or occurring in the evening2 : active, flowering, or flourishing in the evening : crepuscularExamples:"Hemerocallis citrina has vespertine flowers that open before sunset and close by mid-morning." — Kim Smith, Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities!, 2009"A great tree whose leaves were animated by a vespertine breeze was above us, and an elderly maid … served us Cokes and packets of crisps from a tray." — Charles Mudede, The Stranger (Seattle, Washington), 1 June 2011Did you know?Imagine this vespertine scenario: Hesperus, the Evening Star, shines in a clear sky; little brown bats flutter near the treetops; somewhere in the distance a church bell calls worshippers to the evening service. Can you find three words that have linguistic counterparts to the Latin root vesper, which means "evening," hidden in that scene? The evening star was once known as Vesper (Hesperus is from the Greek word for "evening star"); vespertilian means "batlike" (the Latin name for a bat is vespertilio); and we still call an evening worship service vespers.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, 2017 is:boniface \BAH-nuh-fuss\ noun: the proprietor of a hotel, nightclub, or restaurantExamples:"Vince Bommarito, boniface of Tony's restaurant at 410 Market Street, said last week was one of his busiest in years and that this week is shaping up to look the same." — Deb Peterson, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 18 Oct. 2011"In 1901, a correspondent writing to a local paper about the pubs of Cardiff said … that its former name was Winstones, having been kept by the late Alderman John Winstone, 'a rare old bluff gentleman who, for some years, like a good many more bonifaces, was a member of our local parliament.'" — Brian Lee, WalesOnline, 20 Mar. 2014Did you know?Boniface has been the name of eight popes, one antipope, and one saint, but none of those had anything (directly) to do with the English word boniface. The word boniface comes from the name of the jovial innkeeper in George Farquhar's 1707 play The Beaux' Strategem, the story of two penniless rakes who determine that one of them must find and marry a wealthy lady. Farquhar's play made more than one contribution to the English language. The name of the character Lady Bountiful is a byword for a generous (and often conspicuously so) philanthropist. Farquhar, incidentally, never got to see the influence his play had on the lexicon. He finished The Beaux' Strategem on his deathbed, and died on the night of its third 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 December 20, 2017 is:recumbent \rih-KUM-bunt\ adjective1 a : suggestive of repose : leaning, restingb : lying down2 : representing a person lying down3 : (of a bicycle) having the seat positioned so that the rider's legs are extended horizontally forward to the pedals and the body is reclinedExamples:When Bert glanced at his father's recumbent form in the armchair, he immediately realized that he could use a good nap himself."The exhibit includes a limestone statue of a recumbent lion carved between 305 and 30 BCE." — Amy McRary, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, 29 Jan. 2017Did you know?If you're ready to take your vocabulary lying down, you'll want to be familiar with the synonyms recumbent, prone, supine, and prostrate, all of which mean "lying down." Recumbent, which derives from the Latin prefix re- and the verb cumbere, meaning "to lie down," focuses on the posture or position native to sleeping or resting. Prone describes someone who is lying facedown, as, for example, in doing push-ups. Supine flips it over, suggesting the position of someone lying inert on the back, while prostrate implies a full-scale physical collapse or submission, regardless of the exact position of the defeated body. Recumbent, dating from 17th century, is the newest of the four words; the others all entered English before 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 December 19, 2017 is:stultify \STUL-tuh-fye\ verb1 : to cause to appear or be stupid, foolish, or absurdly illogical2 a : to impair, invalidate, or make ineffective : negateb : to have a dulling or inhibiting effect onExamples:What started out as a promising plan to redesign the town square ended up being stultified by bureaucracy and too many conflicting special interests."But I have found the capacity to block off certain thoughts. Like, with this film, about the scale of it or how people loved the Potter films and what's at stake and not wanting to screw it up. I'm getting better at blocking that part of my head because it can stultify you." — Eddie Redmayne, quoted in The Straits Times (Singapore), 16 Nov. 2016Did you know?Stupid or absurd behavior can be almost laughable at times. That's the kind of situation depicted in an 1871 London Daily News article, describing how a witness "stultified himself" by admitting that he was too far off to hear what he had claimed to have heard. But there is nothing especially funny about the now-archaic original usage of stultify. The word was first used in the mid-1700s in legal contexts, where if you stultified yourself, you claimed to be of unsound mind and thus not responsible for your acts. Nor is there humor in the most common meaning of stultify nowadays, that of rendering someone or something useless or ineffective.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, 2017 is:permeable \PER-mee-uh-bul\ adjective: capable of being permeated : penetrable; especially : having pores or openings that permit liquids or gases to pass throughExamples:"More rigid, less _permeable_ foam insulation lines the home's walls to block wind and water from breaching its facade." — Troy McMullen, Forbes, 30 Aug. 2017"Massachusetts politicians chasing the company will soon realize just how insular and secretive Amazon is. I often compare it to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. They sometimes invite people in—to hire them or pitch them to be customers of collaborators—but the current headquarters in Seattle is not a very permeable place." — Scott Kirsner, The Boston Globe, 29 Oct. 2017Did you know?The synonyms permeable and pervious both make good use of the Latin prefix per-, meaning "through." Permeable traces back to a combination of per- and the Latin verb meare, meaning "to go" or "to pass," whereas the history of pervious calls upon Latin via, meaning "way." Both permeable and its more common relative, the verb permeate, still retain the original Latin idea of "passing through." Pervious also has the connotation of "penetrating through" but is also used to describe a susceptible mind, as in "Though set in his ways, the professor was pervious to reason." The prefix per- also gave English pervade, meaning "to become diffused throughout every part of." Meare also has other English descendants, including congé, which can mean "a formal permission to depart," and irremeable, meaning "offering no possibility of return."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, 2017 is:lothario \loh-THAIR-ee-oh\ noun: a man whose chief interest is seducing womenExamples:"He was now quite an elderly Lothario, reduced to the most economical sins; the prominent form of his gaiety being this of lounging at Mr. Gruby's door, embarrassing the servant-maids who came for grocery, and talking scandal with the rare passers-by." — George Eliot, Scenes of Clerical Life, 1858"He probably even envisioned himself as a prized Lothario, never for a moment identifying with this observation by the great songwriter Kinky Friedman: 'Money can buy you a fine dog, but only love can make him wag his tail.'" — Joe Fitzgerald, The Boston Herald, 16 Oct. 2017Did you know?Lothario comes from The Fair Penitent (1703), a tragedy by Nicholas Rowe. In the play, Lothario is a notorious seducer, extremely attractive but a haughty and unfeeling scoundrel beneath his charming exterior. He seduces Calista, an unfaithful wife and later the fair penitent of the title. After the play was published, the character of Lothario became a stock figure in English literature. For example, Samuel Richardson modeled the character of Lovelace on Lothario in his 1748 novel Clarissa. As the character became well known, his name became progressively more generic, and lothario (often capitalized) has since been used to describe a foppish, unscrupulous rake.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 16, 2017 is:terpsichorean \terp-sih-kuh-REE-un\ adjective: of or relating to dancingExamples:"Cronkhite's exuberant dances look great but let the kids act like kids, and don't demand terpsichorean polish beyond the cast's abilities." — Marty Clear, The Bradenton Herald, 13 Jan. 2017"The musical theater specialists at Signature Theatre will test their terpsichorean mettle with the toe-tappin' 'Crazy for You,' the show that clinched Susan Stroman's reputation as a gleeful and inventive choreographer...." — Nelson Pressley, The Washington Post, 8 Sept. 2017Did you know?In Greek and Roman mythology, Terpsichore was one of the nine muses, those graceful sister-goddesses who presided over learning and the arts. Terpsichore was the patron of dance and choral song (and later lyric poetry), and in artistic representations she is often shown dancing and holding a lyre. Her name, which earned an enduring place in English through the adjective terpsichorean, literally means "dance-enjoying," from terpsis, meaning "enjoyment," and choros, meaning "dance." Choros is also the source of choreography and chorus (in Athenian drama, choruses consisted of dancers as well as singers). The only other word we know that incorporates terpsis is terpodion, an obsolete term for a piano-like musical instrument that was invented around 1816 but never really caught 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 December 15, 2017 is:fructify \FRUK-tuh-fye\ verb1 : to bear fruit2 : to make fruitful or productiveExamples:My parents are in a comfortable financial position, thanks to some investments that have recently begun to fructify."I don't care for the jokey body language and elaborate costuming of the four male bees in the Waltz of the Flowers, and yet I find myself paying close attention each time to how tightly they're woven into the musical tapestry. They're not just there to fructify the 16 female flowers, they also become part of one dance pattern after another…." — Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times, 16 Dec. 2013Did 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 December 14, 2017 is:gravamen \gruh-VAY-mun\ noun: the material or significant part of a grievance or complaintExamples:The gravamen of Walter's letter to the editor was that the newspaper frequently reported on the school system's failures but rarely covered its successes and improvements."In the ultimate legal absurdity, even the prosecutors trying the case occasionally are barred from seeing the evidence that provides the gravamen of their arguments." — Petra Bartosiewicz, The Contra Costa (California) Times, 6 Dec. 2009Did you know?Gravamen is not a word you hear every day, but it does show up occasionally in modern-day publications. It comes from the Latin verb gravare, meaning "to burden," and ultimately from the Latin adjective gravis, meaning "heavy." Fittingly, gravamen refers to the part of a grievance or complaint that gives it weight or substance. In legal contexts, gravamen is used, synonymously with gist, to refer to the grounds on which a legal action is sustainable. Gravis has given English several other weighty words, including gravity, grieve, and the adjective grave, meaning "important" or "serious."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 13, 2017 is:diaphanous \dye-AF-uh-nus\ adjective1 : characterized by such fineness of texture as to permit seeing through2 : characterized by extreme delicacy of form : ethereal3 : insubstantial, vagueExamples:"For an hour and 45 minutes, Jackson wound through the various chapters of her career, directing her diaphanous voice to nearly three dozen songs…. " — Brian McCollum, The Detroit Free Press, 30 Oct. 2017"… no element of Sienna Miller’s wardrobe—the hippy vests, the diaphanous vintage dresses, the scrunched, sun-weathered lace blouses—went undiscussed or undocumented." — Mark Holgate, Vogue, 30 Oct. 2017Did you know?Can you guess which of the following words come from the same Greek root as diaphanous?A. epiphany B. fancy C. phenomenon D. sycophant E. emphasis F. phaseThe Greek word phainein shows through more clearly in some of our quiz words than others, but it underlies all of them. The groundwork for diaphanous was laid when phainein (meaning "to show") was combined with dia- (meaning "through"). From that pairing came the Greek diaphanēs, parent of the Medieval Latin diaphanus, which is the direct ancestor of our English word.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 12, 2017 is:sustain \suh-STAYN\ verb1 : to provide with nourishment2 : keep up, prolong3 : to support the weight of : prop; also : to carry or withstand (a weight or pressure)4 a : to buoy upb : suffer, undergo5 a : to support as true, legal, or justb : to allow or admit as validExamples:"It takes a village, a tribe, and a sorority to sustain one another, to flourish and to become an accomplished adult. So sisterhood means inspiring women around me, encouraging each other, crying, laughing, stumbling, and continuing on the path." — Diana Tofan, Glamour, November 2017"So one of our main goals was how can we make the game safer, prevent the injury that I sustained and that others sustained, head and neck injuries, from happening without affecting the speed, intensity, heritage or adding any more rules to the game." — Thomas Smith, quoted on National Public Radio, 6 Jan. 2014Did you know?Sustain, prop, buttress, and brace all mean "to provide support for something or someone." Sustain (from Latin sus-, meaning "up," plus tenēre, meaning "to hold") may suggest constantly holding up or maintaining ("the floor sustains the weight of dozens of bookcases"). Prop often implies a tendency to fall, sink, or recede on the part of the thing being treated—and therefore, a need for strengthening or reinforcing ("propped up the damaged fence with long boards"). Buttress tends to involve strengthening, reinforcing, or stabilizing at a stress point ("buttress the economy"). Brace typically suggests supporting or strengthening so that the thing treated is made firm, unyielding, or rigid against pressure ("brace the shelf with an angle iron").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 11, 2017 is:orphic \OR-fik\ adjective1 : (capitalized) of or relating to Orpheus or the rites or doctrines ascribed to him2 : mystic, oracular3 : fascinating, entrancingExamples:"'No summer ever came back, and no two summers ever were alike,' said I, with a degree of Orphic wisdom that astonished myself." — Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance, 1852"The market skipped higher last week after some Orphic hints from the Federal Reserve Board that it may lower interest rates this summer." — Alison Grant, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 26 Mar. 2007Did you know?Orpheus was a hero of Greek mythology who was supposed to possess superhuman musical skills. With his legendary lyre, he was said to be able to make even the rocks and trees dance around. In fact, when his wife Eurydice died, he was nearly able to use his lyre to secure her return from the underworld. Later on, according to legend, he was killed at the bidding of Dionysus, and an oracle of Orpheus was established that came to rival the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. Because of the oracle of Orpheus, orphic can mean "oracular." Because of Orpheus' musical powers, orphic can also mean "entrancing."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 10, 2017 is:cachinnate \KAK-uh-nayt\ verb: to laugh loudly or immoderatelyExamples:As the author read from her newest book, we tried to tune out the spectator cachinnating at the back of the auditorium."And all the way the Fates walking with him, whispering and cachinnating, ordering him to tread there, breathe here, spit there, unless he wanted to be eviscerated by destiny." — Will Self, Tough, Tough Toys for Tough, Tough Boys, 1998Did you know?Cachinnate has been whooping it up in English since the 19th century. The word derives from the Latin verb cachinnare, meaning "to laugh loudly," and cachinnare was probably coined in imitation of a loud laugh. As such, cachinnare is much like the Old English ceahhetan, the Old High German kachazzen, and the Greek kachazein—all words of imitative origin that essentially meant "to laugh loudly." Our words giggle and guffaw are unrelated to those (and to each other) but they too are believed to have been modeled after the sound of laughter.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 9, 2017 is:zoomorphic \zoh-uh-MOR-fik\ zoomorphic1 : having the form of an animal2 : of, relating to, or being a deity conceived of in animal form or with animal attributesExamplesThe couple could not agree on a dining room set: one preferred a sleek, modern style, while the other liked a more elaborate one with the table and chairs ending in zoomorphic clawed feet."The vibrant postmodern façades of Mamani's buildings (and their imitators) contrast with the raw brick and concrete of El Alto's ramshackle architecture.… Ancient motifs, like … zoomorphic figures from mythology, are abstracted and merged with futuristic flourishes." — Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 28 Dec. 2015Did you know?Zo- (or zoo-) derives from the Greek word zōion, meaning "animal," and -morph comes from the Greek morphē, meaning "form." These two forms combined to give us the adjective zoomorphic in the 19th century to describe something that resembles an animal. English includes other words that were formed from zo- or zoo-, such as zoology (made with -logy, meaning "science"). And there are also other words that were formed from -morph, such as pseudomorph, for a mineral having the outward form of another species. (The combining form pseud- or pseudo- means "false.")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 8, 2017 is:wend \WEND\ verb: to direct one's course : travel, proceedExamples:The hikers wended their way along the forest trail toward the evening's campsite."Meanwhile, several lawsuits involving the hotel developments that stoked the city's political divides are still wending their way through the courts." — Sheila Mullane Estrada, The Tampa Bay Times, 13 Oct. 2017Did you know?Wend is related to the verb wind, which means, among other things, "to follow a series of curves and turns." It is also a distant relative of the verb wander. Wend itself began its journey in Old English as wendan, which was used in various now-obsolete senses relating to turning or changing direction or position and which is akin to the Old English windan ("to twist"). Wend has twisted itself into various meanings over the years. Most of its senses—including "to come about," "to depart," "to change," and "to betake"—have since wandered off into obscurity, but its use in senses related to going or moving along a course has lent the English verb go its past tense form went (as a past tense form of wend, went has long since been superseded by wended). The current sense of wend, "to direct or to proceed," is holding steady on the path.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 7, 2017 is:maieutic \may-YOO-tik\ adjective: relating to or resembling the Socratic method of eliciting new ideas from anotherExamples:"The maieutic art of Socrates consists, essentially, of asking questions designed to destroy prejudices; false beliefs which are often traditional or fashionable beliefs; false answers, given in the spirit of ignorant cocksureness." — Karl Popper, Conjectures and Refutations, 1962"Montaigne wrote as a kind of maieutic exercise, a way of drawing his thoughts into the light of day, of discovering what he wanted to say as he said it." — James Somers, The Atlantic, 21 Dec. 2010Did you know?Maieutic comes from maieutikos, the Greek word for "of midwifery." In one of Plato's Dialogues, Socrates applies maieutikos to his method of bringing forth new ideas by reasoning and dialogue; he thought the technique analogous to those a midwife uses in delivering a baby (Socrates' mother was a midwife). A teacher who uses maieutic methods can be thought of as an intellectual midwife who assists students in bringing forth ideas and conceptions previously latent in their minds.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 6, 2017 is:candor \KAN-der\ noun1 : whiteness, brilliance2 : freedom from prejudice or malice : fairness3 : unreserved, honest, or sincere expression : forthrightnessExamples:"In an e-mail, Shonda Rhimes praised [Jenji] Kohan's kindness and candor, calling her one of the few showrunners with whom she can talk honestly about career strategy."— Emily Nussbaum, The New Yorker, 4 Sept. 2017"'I pay very little attention to legal rules, statutes, constitutional provisions,' he said in a retirement interview. He deserves credit for candor, at least." — National Review, 2 Oct. 2017Did you know?The origins of candor shine through in its first definition. Candor traces back to the Latin verb candēre ("to shine or glow"), which in turn derives from the same ancient root that gave the Welsh language can, meaning "white," and the Sanskrit language candati, which translates to "it shines." Other descendants of candēre in English include candid, incandescent, candle, and the somewhat less common candent and candescent (both of which are synonyms of incandescent in the sense of "glowing from or as if from great heat"). There is even excandescence, an uncommon word that refers to a feverish condition brought on by anger or passion.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 5, 2017 is:encapsulate \in-KAP-suh-layt\ verb1 : to enclose in or as if in a capsule2 : to show or express in a brief way : epitomize, summarize3 : to become enclosed in a capsuleExamples:"Just one game encapsulated everything the Patriots have done well in the red zone this year and everything they have not." — Adam Kurkjian, The Boston Herald, 15 Oct. 2017"Like many other research groups, the Brown team set out to improve the oral uptake of drugs by encapsulating them in polymers that would stick to the mucosal lining of the stomach and intestines." — Rebecca Rawls, Chemical & Engineering News, 31 Mar. 1997Did you know?Encapsulate and its related noun, capsule, derive from capsula, a diminutive form of the Latin noun capsa, meaning "box." Capsa also gave us our noun case (the container kind; the legal sense has a different origin). The original sense of encapsulate, meaning "to enclose something in a capsule," first appeared in the late 19th century. Its extended meaning, "to give a summary or synopsis of something," plays on the notion of a capsule as something compact, self-contained, and often easily digestible. There is also a verb capsule, which is more or less synonymous with encapsulate.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 4, 2017 is:maudlin \MAUD-lin\ adjective1 : drunk enough to be emotionally silly2 : weakly and effusively sentimentalExamples:Rather than give his aunt a maudlin greeting card, Jake looked for one that was more in line with her snarky sense of humor."There are scenes of violence, grieving, hardship and heartbreak, but 'Rags' never melts into a puddle of maudlin self-pity. It maintains an optimistic attitude." — James Gill, The New Orleans Advocate, 25 Oct. 2017Did you know?The history of maudlin owes as much to the Bible as to the barroom. The biblical Mary Magdalene is often (though some say mistakenly) identified with the weeping sinner who washed Jesus' feet with her tears to repent for her sins. This association led to the frequent depiction of Mary Magdalene as a weeping penitent, and even the name Magdalene came to suggest teary emotion to many English speakers. It was then that maudlin, an alteration of Magdalene, appeared in the English phrase "maudlin drunk," which, as one Englishman explained in 1592, described a tearful drunken state whereby "a fellow will weepe for kindnes in the midst of his Ale and kisse you."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 3, 2017 is:pillory \PILL-uh-ree\ noun1 : a wooden frame for public punishment having holes in which the head and hands can be locked2 : a means for exposing one to public scorn or ridiculeExamples:"When I was in college in the 1980s, the general store down the road shamed deadbeats by posting their bounced checks next to the cash register. It was a pillory of sorts, a wall of shame." — Dwight Garner, Esquire, September 2017"The really offensive thing about the bailouts was … that Congress and the White House and the Treasury and the Fed were more or less making things up as they went along. This bank got rescued, that one didn't. This firm got a bailout on generous terms, that one got the pillory." — Stephen Spruiell and Kevin D. Williamson, The National Review, 5 Apr. 2010Did you know?In days gone by, criminals who got caught might well have found themselves in the stocks (which held the feet or both feet and hands) or a pillory. Both of those forms of punishment—and the words that name them—have been around since the Middle Ages. We latched onto pillory from the Anglo-French pilori, which has the same meaning as our English term but the exact origins of which are uncertain. For centuries, pillory referred only to the wooden frame used to hold a ne'er-do-well, but by the early 1600s, folks had turned the word into a verb for the act of putting someone in a pillory. Within a century, they had further expanded the verb to cover any process that led to as much public humiliation as being pilloried.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 2, 2017 is:intersperse \in-ter-SPERSS\ verb1 : to place something at intervals in or among2 : to insert at intervals among other thingsExamples:The author has interspersed the guidebook with illustrations of the different birds we might encounter on the safari tour."Interspersed throughout the beds of deliberately overgrown azaleas, roses, and hydrangeas is the world's largest private collection of sculptures…. — Harper's, 18 Apr. 2017Did you know?Intersperse derives from Latin interspersus, formed by combining the familiar prefix inter- ("between or among") with sparsus, the past participle of spargere, meaning "to scatter." In sparsus one finds an ancestor to our adjective sparse, as well as a relative of spark. (The relationship of spark to a word that describes something being scattered about makes sense when you think of sparks bursting or scattering off a flame.) Intersperse is often followed by the preposition with, as in "a straggling street of comfortable white and red houses, interspersed with abundant shady trees" (from H. G. Wells' 1898 novel, The War of the Worlds).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 1, 2017 is:anachronism \uh-NAK-ruh-niz-um\ noun1 : an error in chronology; especially : a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other2 : a person or a thing that is chronologically out of place; especially : one from a former age that is incongruous in the present3 : the state or condition of being chronologically out of placeExamples:"There are the truly strange anachronisms throughout. Félicie traipses around in denim shorts, and the characters … make 'Hammer Time' jokes. And yet we know it's supposed to be the 19th century because of the proliferation of top hats and horse-drawn carriages, and because both the Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty are under construction." — Katie Walsh, The Los Angeles Times, 24 Aug. 2017"With social media and its instantaneous but faux connection, postcards are a quaint anachronism. Part of me is hopelessly old-fashioned, so I'll revive the practice of sending 'postcards' for the next few weeks in lieu of normal columns." — Mark A. Cohen, Forbes, 9 Oct. 2017Did you know?An anachronism is something that is out of place in terms of time or chronology. The word derives from chronos, the Greek word for "time," and ana-, a Greek prefix meaning "up," "back," or "again." In its earliest English use, anachronism referred to an error in the dating of something (as, for example, in etymology, when a word or use is mistakenly assumed to have arisen earlier than it did). Anachronisms were sometimes distinguished from parachronisms, chronological errors in which dates are set later than is correct. But parachronism did not stand the test of time. It is now a very rare word.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 November 30, 2017 is:scurrilous \SKUR-uh-lus\ adjective1 a : using or given to coarse languageb : vulgar and evil2 : containing obscenities, abuse, or slanderExamples:The actor publically apologized to his young fans for his scurrilous tweets."Because he was friendlier with her highness than protocol allowed …, he created a strong impression …, which boosted his status from her royal servant to close friend, which triggered much scurrilous backstage gossip among the sovereign's fawning aides and officials…." — Colin Covert, The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota), 29 Sept. 2017Did you know?Scurrilous (and its much rarer relation scurrile, which has the same meaning) comes from Middle French scurrile. The Middle French word, in turn, comes from the Latin scurrilis, from scurra, which means "buffoon" or "jester." Fittingly, 18th-century lexicographer Samuel Johnson defined scurrilous as "using such language as only the licence [sic] of a buffoon could warrant." Qualities traditionally associated with buffoonery—vulgarity, irreverence, and indecorousness—are qualities often invoked by the word scurrilous. Unlike the words of a jester, however, "scurrilous" language of the present day more often intends to seriously harm or slander than to produce a few laughs.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.