Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 6, 2014 is: obloquy • \AH-bluh-kwee\ • noun 1 : a strongly condemnatory utterance : abusive language 2 : the condition of one that is discredited : bad repute Examples: The manager walked quickly back to the dugout as insults and obloquy rained down from the stands. "Because of the stigma associated with drug convictions, such an indictment could be tantamount to a life sentence of obloquy in terms of future employment." - Floral Park Dispatch, January 15, 2014 Did you know? English speakers can choose from several synonyms to name a tongue-lashing. Abuse is a good general term that usually stresses the anger of the speaker and the harshness of the language, as in "scathing verbal abuse." Vituperation often specifies fluent, sustained abuse; "a torrent of vituperation" is a typical use of this term. Invective implies vehemence comparable to vituperation, but may suggest greater verbal and rhetorical skill; it may also apply especially to a public denunciation, as in "blistering political invective." Obloquy, which comes from the Late Latin ob- (meaning "against") plus loqui (meaning "to speak"), suggests defamation and consequent shame and disgrace; a typical example of its use would be "subjected to obloquy and derision." 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 October 5, 2014 is: fulgent • \FULL-jint\ • adjective : dazzlingly bright : radiant Examples: "Lilac and wistaria and redbud, even the shabby heaven-trees, had never been finer, fulgent, with a burning scent…." - William Faulkner, Sanctuary, 1931 "Both queens were outfitted with lush and representative mantles, white kid gloves, splendid jewelry and dazzling crowns to make a picture of fulgent finery." - Nell Nolan, Times-Picayune (New Orleans), February 26, 2012 Did 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 October 4, 2014 is: tankini • \tang-KEE-nee\ • noun : a woman's two-piece swimsuit consisting of bikini briefs and a tank top Examples: While women in the north are putting their swimsuits away for the season-be they one-pieces, bikinis, or tankinis-those in southerly climes can still comfortably relax poolside. "For the first time, select tankini styles feature the popular zip-front styling, making it easier to put on and take off the swimsuit after a dip in the pool." - Marketwired, September 9, 2014 Did you know? The two-piece swimsuit we call the bikini made its debut on Paris runways in 1946. The word bikini comes from Bikini atoll, the name of one of the Marshall Islands in the western Pacific, where atomic-bomb tests were performed in 1946. One theory of the coinage is that the effect achieved by a scantily clad woman appearing in public may be compared to the effect of an A-bomb blast. Another possible explanation is that the bikini leaves its wearer nearly bare, the way the bomb tests stripped Bikini atoll. In 1985, the tankini began appearing on beaches in the U.S., and the word bikini was combined with tank to create its appropriate name. 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 October 3, 2014 is: solipsism • \SOH-lip-sih-zum\ • noun : a theory holding that the self can know nothing but its own modifications and that the self is the only existent thing; also : extreme egocentrism Examples: The actor’s memoir of the years during which he struggled to break into show business is loaded with so much introspection that it borders on solipsism. "Perhaps the most shocking part of [the novel] 10:04 is just how kind it feels, how Lerner is unafraid to show the narrator escaping intellectual solipsism and expressing real emotion." - Anthony Domestico, Boston Review, September 2, 2014 Did you know? Fans of René Descartes credit the French philosopher with introducing solipsism as a major problem of modern philosophy, but the word solipsism most likely sprang from a French satire written by Giulio Clemente Scotti in 1652 called La Monarchie des Solipses. The term wasn't used in English until the late 19th century, when solipsism, a composite of the Latin solus ("alone") and ipse ("self"), was applied purely in the philosophical sense. Recently the word has taken on another, more general sense, suggesting an ego-driven selfishness or self-indulgence. 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 October 2, 2014 is: expropriate • \ek-SPROH-pree-ayt\ • verb 1 : to deprive of possession or proprietary rights 2 : to transfer (the property of another) to one's own possession Examples: The city council rejected a proposal to expropriate private property for the highway expansion. "The city spent nearly $50,000 to expropriate eight tracts that could be used for a potential studio expansion." - Michele Marcotte, The Times (Shreveport, Louisiana), July 21, 2013 Did you know? If you guessed that expropriate has something in common with the verb appropriate, you're right. Both words ultimately derive from the Latin adjective proprius, meaning "own." Expropriate came to us by way of the Medieval Latin verb expropriare, itself from Latin ex- ("out of" or "from") and proprius. Appropriate descends from Late Latin appropriare, which joins proprius and Latin ad- ("to" or "toward"). Both the verb appropriate ("to take possession of" or "to set aside for a particular use") and the adjective appropriate ("fitting" or "suitable") have been with us since the 15th century, and expropriate has been a part of the language since at least 1611. Other proprius descendants in English include proper and property. 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 October 1, 2014 is: global village • \GLOH-bul VIL-ij\ • noun : the world viewed as a community in which distance and isolation have been dramatically reduced by electronic media (such as television and the Internet) Examples: Thanks to crowdsourcing and the generous response of the global village, the couple received enough donations from strangers all over the world to pay their sick daughter's medical bills. "Adding fuel to each of these contagions is our ever-growing web of connections to the global village, with the virtual tethers now so much a part of our daily lives that they no longer surprise. Every Facebook user, in theory, is just a single friend request away from some 1.3 billion others." - Clifton Leaf, Fortune, August 22, 2014 Did you know? The term global village is closely associated with Herbert Marshall McLuhan, the Canadian communications theorist and literature professor hailed by many as a prophet for the 20th century. McLuhan's mantra, "the medium is the message," summarized his view of the influence of television, computers, and other electronic information sources in shaping society and modern life. By 1960, he had delineated his concept of the "global village," and by 1970, the public had embraced the term and recognized the idea as both exhilarating and frightening. As a 1970 Saturday Review article noted, "There are no boundaries in a global village. All problems will become so intimate as to be one's own...." 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 September 30, 2014 is: wheedle • \WEE-dul\ • verb 1 : to influence or entice by soft words or flattery 2 : to gain or get by coaxing or flattering 3 : to use soft words or flattery Examples: Suzie wheedled the babysitter into letting her stay up an hour past her bedtime. "I still make fruitcake, using a recipe that is mostly fruit and nuts and not much cake. My dad owned a locker plant and butcher shop, and wheedled the recipe out of a customer in the 1950s." - Joan Daniels, Kansas City Star, August 12, 2014 Did you know? Wheedle has been a part of the English lexicon since the mid-17th century, though no one is quite sure how the word made its way into English. (It has been suggested that the term may have derived from an Old English word that meant "to beg," but this is far from certain.) Once established in the language, however, wheedle became a favorite of some of the language's most illustrious writers. Wheedle and related forms appear in the writings of Wordsworth, Dickens, Kipling, Dryden, Swift, Scott, Tennyson, and Pope, among others. 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 September 29, 2014 is: rapier • \RAY-pee-er\ • adjective : extremely sharp or keen Examples: The wit and keen insight found in her blog are a testament to her rapier mind. "Mr. Brady was a veteran Republican aide and a popular figure among Washington journalists. He was equipped with a rapier wit and a buoyant charm that tended to defuse controversy even before he began working for the White House in January 1981." - Jon Thurber, The Washington Post, August 5, 2014 Did you know? A rapier is a straight, two-edged sword with a narrow pointed blade, designed especially for thrusting. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, "the long rapier was beautifully balanced, excellent in attack, and superb for keeping an opponent at a distance." The word itself, which we borrowed in the 16th century, is from Middle French rapiere. The first time that rapier was used as an adjective in its figurative "cutting" sense, it described a smile: "Who can bear a rapier smile? A kiss that dooms the soul to death?" ("The Lover's Lament" by Sumner Lincoln Fairfield, 1824). The adjective these days most commonly describes wit-an association that dates to the 1850s. 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 September 28, 2014 is: sotto voce • \sah-toh-VOH-chee\ • adverb or adjective 1 : under the breath : in an undertone; also : in a private manner 2 : very softly - used as a direction in music Examples: As her husband headed into the kitchen, our hostess began telling us sotto voce about the upcoming surprise party for him. "Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell had just explained, with a heart-breaking letter and a sotto voce delivery, that his marriage was in shambles." - Laura Vozzella, Matt Zapotosky, and Rosalind S. Helderman, The Washington Post, August 23, 2014 Did you know? It’s no secret: in our first example sentence, sotto voce functions as an adverb, modifying the verb tell. But sotto voce, which was borrowed into English from the Italian word sottovoce (literally meaning "under the voice"), can also serve as an adjective. That’s the role it plays in our second example sentence. The adverb sense first appeared in English in the 18th century and soon afterward found use in musical directions calling for whispered vocals. The adjective sense came about in the early 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 September 27, 2014 is: fainéant • \fay-nay-AHN\ • adjective : idle and ineffectual : indolent Examples: Deanna's parents warned her not to become fainéant during the summer; even if she didn't want to work, she should travel or volunteer somewhere. "We go on, Beckett-like, enacting the rituals that define existence, trapped in an existential spiral, too fainéant to change, ... doomed to repeat the same mistakes and fall into the same situations." - David Krasner, A History of Modern Drama, 2011 Did you know? You've probably guessed that fainéant was borrowed from French; it derives from fait-nient, which literally means "does nothing," and ultimately traces back to the verb faindre, or feindre, meaning "to feign." (The English word feign is also descended from this verb, as are faint and feint.) Fainéant first appeared in print in the early 17th century as a noun meaning "an irresponsible idler," and by 1854 it was also being used as an adjective. As its foreignness suggests, fainéant tends to be used when the context calls for a fancier or more elegant word than inactive or sluggish. 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 September 26, 2014 is: Götterdämmerung • \gher-ter-DEM-uh-roong\ • : a collapse (as of a society or regime) marked by catastrophic violence and disorder; broadly : downfall Examples: There were those who worried that the latest civil war and attempted regime change would end in Götterdämmerung for the small country. "One wishes, of course, for some sort of Götterdämmerung … in which the former victims rise up to give the monsters a taste of their terrible medicine. That's what the movies are for." - James Taub, Stars and Stripes, August 23, 2014 Did you know? Norse mythology specified that the destruction of the world would be preceded by a cataclysmic final battle between the good and evil gods, resulting in the heroic deaths of all the "good guys." The German word for this earth-shattering last battle was Götterdämmerung. Literally, Götterdämmerung means "twilight of the gods." (Götter is the plural of Gott, meaning "god," and Dämmerung means "twilight.") Figuratively, the term is extended to situations of world-altering destruction marked by extreme chaos and violence. In the 19th century, the German composer Richard Wagner brought attention to the word Götterdämmerung when he chose it as the title of the last opera of his cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, and by the early 20th century, the word had entered English. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 25, 2014 is: palaver • \puh-LAV-er\ • noun 1 : a long discussion or meeting usually between persons of different cultures or levels of sophistication 2 a : idle talk b : misleading or beguiling speech Examples: "I don't know how you can stand to listen to that palaver," said Rachel, as she switched off the talk show her brother had been listening to on the radio. "The violinist Geoff Nuttall now directs the series, with a more contemporary sensibility in both programming and in the often corny introductory palaver carried over from the Wadsworth era." - James R. Oestreich, The New York Times, June 4, 2014 Did you know? During the 18th century, Portuguese and English sailors often met during trading trips along the West African coast. This contact prompted the English to borrow the Portuguese palavra, which usually means "speech" or "word" but was used by Portuguese traders with the specific meaning "discussions with natives." The Portuguese word traces back to the Late Latin parabola, a noun meaning "speech" or "parable," which in turn comes from the Greek parabolē, meaning "juxtaposition" or "comparison." 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 September 24, 2014 is: teleological • \tel-ee-uh-LAH-jih-kul\ • adjective : exhibiting or relating to design or purpose especially in nature Examples: At dinner, Sandra and Miguel debated whether or not the complex structure of the human eye implied a teleological origin. "There is also something of a teleological aspect to all this urbanization hoopla, one that suggests that man was put on this planet to shop at Whole Foods." - Lionel Beehner, USA Today, February 25, 2014 Did you know? Teleological (which comes to us by way of New Latin from the Greek root tele-, telos, meaning "end or purpose") and its close relative teleology both entered English in the 18th century, followed by teleologist in the 19th century. Teleology has the basic meaning of "the study of ends or purposes." A teleologist attempts to understand the purpose of something by looking at its results. A teleological philosopher might argue that we should judge whether an act is good or bad by seeing if it produces a good or bad result, and a teleological explanation of evolutionary changes claims that all such changes occur for a definite purpose. 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 September 23, 2014 is: syllepsis • \suh-LEP-sis\ • noun 1 : the use of a word to modify or govern syntactically two or more words with only one of which it formally agrees in gender, number, or case 2 : the use of a word in the same grammatical relation to two adjacent words in the context with one literal and the other metaphorical in sense Examples: Jeannie held the door open for her unwelcome guest and, in a clever use of syllepsis, said, "Take a hint and a hike!" "… it works as two words in one: She shot the rapids and her boyfriend. Syllepsis produces a surprise, almost requiring the reader to go back and reparse the sentence to savor the double meaning of the word." - Jeanne Fahnestock, Rhetorical Figures in Science, 2002 Did you know? Charles Dickens made good use of syllepsis in The Pickwick Papers when he wrote that his character Miss Bolo "went straight home, in a flood of tears and a sedan chair." Such uses, defined at sense 2 above, are humorously incongruous, but they’re not grammatically incorrect. Syllepsis as defined at sense 1, however, is something to be generally avoided. For example, take this sentence, "She exercises to keep healthy and I to lose weight." The syllepsis occurs with the verb exercises. The problem is that only one subject, "she" (not "I"), agrees with the verb. The word syllepsis derives from the Greek syllēpsis, and ultimately from syllambanein, meaning "to gather together." It has been used in English since at least 1550. 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 September 22, 2014 is: esurient • \ih-SUR-ee-unt\ • adjective : hungry, greedy Examples: No one was surprised that the esurient media mogul planned to expand his empire into the social-media marketplace. "She sat opposite him …, as plump and indifferent to his presence as an old tabby cat whose esurient eye was wholly focused on a particularly toothsome mouse." - Pamela Aidan, An Assembly Such as This: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman, 2006 Did you know? If you’re hungry for a new way to express your hunger, you might find that esurient suits your palate. Be forewarned, however, that when used literally esurient has a humorous flavor. This somewhat obscure word first appeared in English in the second half of the 17th century, deriving from the present participle of the Latin verb esurire, meaning "to be hungry." It is also related to edere, the Latin verb for "eat," which has given us such scrumptious fare as edible and its synonyms esculent and comestible. Esurient can be used somewhat playfully to suggest an actual hunger for food, but it is more often applied to such things as wealth or power. In the latter contexts, it takes on the connotation of greedy. 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 September 21, 2014 is: aphelion • \a-FEEL-yun\ • noun : the point in the path of a celestial body (such as a planet) that is farthest from the sun Examples: The comet is predicted to reach aphelion a mere 22 years from now. "Although this seems somewhat counter-intuitive for those of us in the northern hemisphere, Earth is actually at perihelion in early January each year, and at aphelion? in early July." - Alan Hale, Alamo Gordo News, August 14, 2014 Did you know? Aphelion and perihelion are troublesome terms. Which one means a planet is nearest to the sun and which means it is farthest away? An etymology lesson may help you keep those words straight. Just remember that the "ap" of aphelion derives from a Latin prefix that means "away from" (the mnemonic "'A' for 'away'" can help too); peri-, on the other hand, means "near." And how are aphelion and perihelion related to the similar-looking astronomical pair, apogee and perigee? Etymology explains again. The "helion" of aphelion and perihelion is based on the Greek word hēlios, meaning "sun," while the "gee" of apogee and perigee is based on gaia, meaning "earth." The first pair describes distance in relation to the sun, the second in relation to the earth. 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 September 20, 2014 is: carouse • \kuh-ROWZ ("OW" as in "cow")\ • verb 1 : to drink liquor freely or excessively 2 : to take part in a drunken revel : engage in dissolute behavior Examples: The sailor spent all of shore leave carousing with his mates. "Separatist fighters have taken to carousing drunkenly at night and wearing civilian clothes." - Andrew E. Kramer, The New York Times, August 20, 2014 Did you know? Sixteenth-century English revelers toasting each other's health sometimes drank a brimming mug of spirits straight to the bottom-drinking "all-out," they called it. German tipplers did the same and used the German expression for "all out"-gar aus. The French adopted the German term as carous, using the adverb in their expression boire carous ("to drink all out"), and that phrase, with its idiomatic sense of "to empty the cup," led to carrousse, a French noun meaning "a large draft of liquor." And that's where English speakers picked up carouse in the mid-1500s, first as a noun (which later took on the sense of a general "drinking bout"), and then as a verb meaning "to drink freely." 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 September 19, 2014 is: velar • \VEE-ler\ • adjective 1 : formed with the back of the tongue touching or near the soft palate 2 : of, forming, or relating to a velum and especially the soft palate Examples: The word "keg" contains two velar consonants, "k" and "g." "Those throat-clearing sounds you hear in German? That's the voiceless velar fricative, and it adds a wonderful percussiveness to '99 Luftbalons.' English speakers don't have it; it's one reason the Anglicized version of Nena's 1984 hit falls flat." - William Weir, Slate, November 8, 2012 Did you know? Velar is ultimately derived from Latin velum (meaning "curtain" or "veil"), which was itself adopted into English by way of New Latin as a word for the soft palate (the fold at the back of the hard palate-palate, by the way, refers to the roof of the mouth-that partially separates the mouth from the pharynx). Velar is used by phonologists to refer to the position of the tongue in relation to the soft palate when making certain sounds. Other terms for what phonologists refer to as "places of articulation" are palatal (tongue against the roof of the mouth), dental (tongue against the upper teeth), and alveolar (tongue against the inner surface of the gums of the upper front teeth). 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 September 18, 2014 is: hegemony • \hih-JEM-uh-nee\ • noun 1 : dominant influence or authority over others 2 : the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group Examples: Consumers welcomed the diversification of the software market as smaller innovators challenged the hegemony of the large companies. "In the novel, a United States aircraft carrier group is sunk in the Pacific Ocean by a mysterious wing of fighter jets, later revealed to bear the red star of the Soviet forces from the parallel dimension, crossing over into our world to turn back the tide of American hegemony." - Andrew E. Kramer, The New York Times, August 20, 2014 Did you know? Hegemony comes to English from the Greek hēgemonia, a noun formed from the verb hēgeisthai ("to lead"), which also gave us the word exegesis ("exposition" or "explanation"). The word was first used in English in the mid-16th century in reference to the control once wielded by the ancient Greek states, and it was reapplied in later centuries as other nations subsequently rose to power. By the 20th century, it had acquired a second sense referring to the social or cultural influence wielded by a dominant member over others of its kind, such as the domination within an industry by a business conglomerate over smaller businesses. 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 September 17, 2014 is: olfactory • \ahl-FAK-tuh-ree\ • adjective : of, relating to, or connected with the sense of smell Examples: The aroma of cinnamon rolls coming from the kitchen served as an enticing olfactory clue that breakfast was almost ready. "First things first, it has to be said that the place smells like an aromatic candle. Equal parts cedar, pine, campfire, and patchouli, with a dash of earthiness, Awendaw Green is an olfactory wonderland." - Kirsten Schofield, Charleston City Paper, August 19, 2014 Did you know? Olfactory derives from the past participle of the Latin olfacere, which means "to smell" and which was formed from the verb olēre (also "to smell") and facere ("to do"). Olfactory is a word that often appears in scientific contexts (as in "olfactory nerves," the nerves that pass from the nose to the brain and contain the receptors that make smelling possible), but it has occasionally branched out into less specialized contexts. The pleasant smell of spring flowers, for example, might be considered an "olfactory delight." A related word, olfaction, is a noun referring to the sense of smell or the act or process of smelling. 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 September 16, 2014 is: pell-mell • \pel-MEL\ • adverb 1 : in mingled confusion or disorder 2 : in confused haste Examples: After the final bell of the day rang, the pupils bolted from their desks and ran pell-mell out the door into the schoolyard. "So Congress has been racing pell-mell this month to fix this crisis that’s been simmering for two decades. And what they’ve come up with is a Rube Goldberg contraption even by their usual convoluted standards." - Danny Westneat, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (Washington), July 18, 2014 Did you know? The word pell-mell was probably formed through a process called reduplication. The process-which involves the repetition of a word or part of a word, often including a slight change in its pronunciation-also generated such terms as bowwow, helter-skelter, flip-flop, and chitchat. Yet another product of reduplication is shilly-shally, which started out as a single-word compression of the question "Shall I?" For pell-mell, the process is believed to have occurred long ago: our word traces to a Middle French word of the same meaning, pelemele, which was likely a product of reduplication from Old French mesle, a form of mesler, meaning "to mix." 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 September 15, 2014 is: divarication • \dye-vair-uh-KAY-shun\ • noun 1 : the action, process, or fact of spreading apart 2 : a divergence of opinion Examples: The team of botanists studied the growth patterns of the trees, including the divarication of their branches. "For journalists, the futurists were at worst nothing more than a further example of the divarication between the world of art and the tastes of the public.…" - Luca Somigli, Legitimizing the Artist, 2003 Did you know? There's no reason to prevaricate about the origins of divarication-the word derives from the Medieval Latin divaricatio, which in turn descends from the verb divaricare, meaning "to spread apart." Divaricare itself is derived from the Latin varicare, which means "to straddle" and is also an ancestor of prevaricate ("to deviate from the truth"). The oldest sense of divarication, which first appeared in print in English in 1578, refers to a literal branching apart (as in "divarication of the roads"). The word eventually developed a more metaphorical second sense that is used when opinions "stretch apart" from one another. 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 September 14, 2014 is: aleatory • \AY-lee-uh-tor-ee\ • adjective : characterized by chance or random elements Examples: Tom and Renee's romance had an aleatory beginning-for without the sudden rainstorm that led to their introduction beneath the shop's awning, would they ever have met? "Pollard had learned the 'cut-up' technique from Burroughs, in which the song (or poem) is completed, then spliced, then rearranged in random order. This writing technique is aleatory: in other words, it deposits chance directly into the creative process. What’s produced as a result of the technique is completely random …." - Brian Burlage, The Michigan Daily, July 30, 2014 Did you know? If you're the gambling type, then chances are good you've come across aleatory in your travels. Deriving from the Latin noun alea, which refers to a kind of dice game, aleatory was first used in English in the late 17th century to describe things that are dependent on uncertain odds, much like a roll of the dice. The term now describes things that occur by sheer chance or accident, such as the unlucky bounce of a golf shot or the unusual shape of an ink blot. Going a bit further, the term aleatory music, or chance music, describes a musical composition in which certain parts are left for the performer to concoct through improvisation. 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 September 13, 2014 is: grubstake • \GRUB-stayk\ • verb : to provide with material assistance (as a loan) for launching an enterprise or for a person in difficult circumstances Examples: For the production of his short film, Zachary was grubstaked by online donations from friends and supporters. "Almost simultaneously, the Auerbachs opened a series of stores. They sold merchandise on commission throughout the Western states…. They grubstaked miners, held mining interests, purchased a sawmill and a 30-pack mule train." - Eileen Hallet Stone, The Salt Lake Tribune, November 16, 2013 Did you know? Grubstake is a linguistic nugget that was dug up during the famous California Gold Rush, which began in 1848. Sometime between the first stampede and the early 1860s, when the gold-seekers headed off to Montana, prospectors combined grub ("food") and stake, meaning "an interest or share in an undertaking." At first grubstake was a noun, referring to any kind of loan or provisions that could be finagled to make an undertaking possible (with the agreement that the "grubstaker" would get a cut of any profits). By 1879, grubstake was also showing up as a verb meaning "to give someone a grubstake," and, since at least 1937, it has been applied to other situations in which a generous benefactor comes through with the funds. 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 September 12, 2014 is: lido • \LEE-doh\ • noun : a fashionable beach resort Examples: Sharon bought a new bathing suit in anticipation of her upcoming vacation at a luxurious lido. "The lido on the Promenade at Grange-over-Sands has been abandoned since it closed in 1993, although there is now a campaign for it to be reopened." - Griff Witte, BBC.com, August 13, 2014 Did you know? The original Lido is a beach resort near Venice, Italy. The town’s name comes from the Italian word lido, which means "shore" or "bank." (The Italian root derives from litus, the Latin word for "shore.") By the mid-19th century, Lido’s reputation as a chic vacation destination for the well-to-do made it the envy of seaside resorts everywhere. English speaking social climbers generalized the town’s name and started using it for any fashionably Lido-esque beach. 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 September 11, 2014 is: exacerbate • \ig-ZASS-er-bayt\ • verb : to make more violent, bitter, or severe Examples: It seemed as though every new attempt at a solution served only to exacerbate the problem. "The rise of commercial data profiling is exacerbating existing inequities in society and could turn de facto discrimination into a high-tech enterprise." - Seeta Peña Gangadharan, The New York Times, August 7, 2014 Did you know? Make it a point to know that the Latin adjective acer, meaning "sharp," forms the basis of a number of words that have come into English. The words acerbic ("having a bitter temper or sour mood"), acrid ("having a sharp taste or odor"), and acrimony ("a harsh manner or disposition") are just the tip of the iceberg. First appearing in English in the 17th century, exacerbate derives from the Latin prefix ex-, which means "out of" or "outside," and acerbus, which means "harsh" or "bitter" and comes from acer. Just as pouring salt in a wound worsens pain, things that exacerbate can cause a situation to go from bad to worse. A pointed insult, for example, might exacerbate tensions between two rivals. 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 September 10, 2014 is: rathskeller • \RAHT-skel-er\ • noun : a usually basement tavern or restaurant Examples: Beneath the service club's new meeting hall is a rathskeller that is open for lunch and dinner. "Troy's Germania Hall remains open. The club serves dinner every Friday night in its rathskeller." - Jeff Wilkin, The Gazette (Schenectady, New York), August 10, 2014 Did you know? Rathskeller is a product of Germany, deriving from two German nouns: Rat (also spelled Rath in early Modern German), which means "council," and Keller, which means "cellar." (Nouns in German are always capitalized.) The etymology reflects the fact that many early rathskellers were located in the basements of "council houses," which were equivalent to town halls. (The oldest rathskeller found in Germany today is said to date from the first half of the 13th century.) The earliest known use of rathskeller in English dates from 1766, but the word wasn't commonly used until the 1900s. Although the German word is now spelled Ratskeller, English writers have always preferred the spelling with the "h"-most likely to avoid any association with the word rat. 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 September 9, 2014 is: stereotactic • \stair-ee-uh-TAK-tik\ • adjective : involving or used in a surgical technique for precisely directing the tip of a delicate instrument or beam of radiation in three planes using coordinates provided by medical imaging in order to reach a specific locus in the body Examples: "Once in the OR, Mario was given a local anesthetic. His head had been shaved, his brain targeted to millimeter precision by MRIs. Attached to his head was a stereotactic frame to provide surgeons with precise coordinates and mapping imagery." - Lauren Slater, Mother Jones, November 2005 "The center is equipped with a $5 million machine, known as a stereotactic body radiotherapy system, that zaps tumors with high doses of radiation without damaging nearby tissue and organs." - James T. Mulder, The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), July 18, 2014 Did you know? At the beginning of the 20th century, neurosurgeons were experimenting with a technique used to direct the tip of a needle or an electrode in three spatial planes (length, width, and depth) to reach a particular place in the brain. At that time, the word for this technique was "stereotaxic," based on the prefix "stereo-" ("dealing with three dimensions of space") and "taxis" (referring to the manual restoration of a displaced body part). In 1950, "stereotactic" (based on "tactic," meaning "of or relating to touch") joined the medical vocabulary as a synonym of "stereotaxic." Around the same time, a noninvasive neurosurgery technique was developed using beams of radiation. It is this procedure that is now often described as "stereotactic" and (less frequently) "stereotaxic." 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 September 8, 2014 is: culprit • \KUL-prit\ • noun 1 : one accused of or charged with a crime 2 : one guilty of a crime or a fault 3 : the source or cause of a problem Examples: After the empty warehouse burned down, an investigation determined faulty wiring to be the culprit. "Police searched a parking structure in the Mid-City area of Los Angeles Saturday for one of two armed suspects who robbed a pedestrian but were unable to locate the culprit." - Los Angeles Daily News, August 2, 2014 Did you know? We would be culpable if we didn't clearly explain the origins behind culprit. Yes, it is related to culpable, which itself derives from Latin culpare, meaning "to blame," via Middle English and Anglo-French. But the etymology of culprit is not so straightforward. In Anglo-French, culpable meant "guilty," and this was abbreviated "cul." in legal briefs and texts. Culprit was formed by combining this abbreviation with prest, prit, meaning "ready"-that is, ready to prove an accusation. Literally, then, a culprit was one who was ready to be proven guilty. English then borrowed the word for one accused of a wrongdoing. 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 September 7, 2014 is: tantamount • \TAN-tuh-mount\ • adjective : equivalent in value, significance, or effect Examples: The boss had told Morris that he was being reassigned to the shipping department, and he knew that it was tantamount to a demotion. "Mrs. Clinton declined an invitation to speak, organizers said. Democratic analysts said that was no surprise-for her to attend such a gathering would have been tantamount to announcing a presidential run, which she is not yet ready to do." - Sheryl Gay Stolberg, The New York Times, July 19, 2014 Did you know? Tantamount comes from the Anglo-French phrase tant amunter, meaning "to amount to as much." This phrase comes from the Old French tant, meaning "so much" or "as much," and amounter, meaning "to ascend" or "to add up to." When tantamount first entered English, it was used similarly to the Anglo-French phrase, as a verb meaning "to be equivalent." "His not denying tant-amounteth to the affirming of the matter," wrote clergyman Thomas Fuller in 1659, for example. There was also a noun tantamount in the 17th century, but the adjective is the only commonly used form of the term nowadays. 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 September 6, 2014 is: disjunctive • \diss-JUNK-tiv\ • adjective 1 a : relating to, being, or forming a logical disjunction b : expressing an alternative or opposition between meanings of the words connected c : expressed by mutually exclusive alternatives joined by or 2 : marked by breaks or disunity Examples: The detective walked into the interrogation room and bluntly asked the disjunctive question, "Were you with her on the night of the murder, or were you not?" "I was not put off by the disjointed narrative-I was riveted by the character and the music-which I grew up with and adore. And while the film makes disjunctive cuts, especially from a pivotal backstage encounter with Brown's mother …, when we do return to the scene, the emotional payoff is there." - Anne Thomas, IndieWire, August 4, 2014 Did you know? Disjunctive comes to us from disjunctus, the past participle of the Latin verb disjungere, meaning "to disjoin," and it is commonly used to describe things marked by breaks or separation, as in "a disjunctive account of events." Some people may be familiar with disjunctive conjunctions-like or, either… or, but, and though-which express an alternative or opposition between the meanings of the words connected. The opposite of such conjunctions are copulative conjunctions, which unite words or phrases-the principal one in English being and. In linguistics, disjunctive may also denote a vowel inserted in the body of a word to aid in pronunciation. For example, the schwa sometimes found in athlete is considered disjunctive. 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 September 5, 2014 is: oleaginous • \oh-lee-AJ-uh-nus\ • adjective 1 : resembling or having the properties of oil : oily; also : containing or producing oil 2 : marked by an offensively ingratiating manner or quality Examples: Jim seems to mistake his own oleaginous demeanor for charm. "From swimsuits, evening gowns, and talent to spokesmodel abilities and handling a 'beauty crisis,' the girls go through their paces, egged on by the oleaginous emcee." - Christopher Byrne, Gay City News (New York), July 24, 2014 Did you know? The oily oleaginous slipped into English through Middle French, coming from the Latin oleagineus, meaning "of an olive tree." Oleagineus itself is from the Latin olea, meaning "olive tree," and ultimately from the Greek elaia, meaning "olive." Oleaginous was at first used in a literal sense, as it still can be. An oleaginous substance is simply oily, and an oleaginous plant produces oil. The word took on its extended "ingratiating" sense in the 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 September 4, 2014 is: bivouac • \BIV-uh-wak\ • verb 1 : to make a temporary encampment under little or no shelter 2 : to take shelter often temporarily 3 : to provide temporary quarters for Examples: The search party bivouacked under a nearby ledge until the storm passed. "Until Saturday, the virus had never entered the United States. But opposition to its importation via the ailing patients has been minimal, limited mainly to right-wing pundits and individuals griping on social media or eyeing the media horde bivouacked outside Emory." - Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times, August 3, 2014 Did you know? In his 1841 dictionary, Noah Webster observed bivouac to be a French borrowing having military origins. He defined the noun bivouac as "the guard or watch of a whole army, as in cases of great danger of surprise or attack" and the verb as "to watch or be on guard, as a whole army." The French word is derived from the Low German word biwacht, which translates to "by guard." Germans used the word specifically for a patrol of citizens who assisted the town watch at night. Today, bivouac has less to do with guarding and patrolling than it does with taking shelter. 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 September 3, 2014 is: El Niño • \el-NEEN-yoh\ • noun : an irregularly recurring flow of unusually warm surface waters from the Pacific Ocean toward and along the western coast of South America that prevents upwelling of nutrient-rich cold deep water and that disrupts typical regional and global weather patterns Examples: Representatives of the Pacific Island countries met in Fiji in 1999 to discuss the climatic impacts of the 1997-98 El Niño. "Forecasters have been pointing to a developing weak to possibly moderate El Niño as a reason why there will be fewer storms this year." - Bill Fortier, Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts), August 11, 2014 Did you know? Each year around Christmas time, a warm equatorial current flows southward along the coast of Peru. In the 19th century, Peruvian fisherman named that annual current "El Niño" in honor of the Christ child (el niño means "the child" in Spanish). Later, when scientists noted that in some years this warm current flow is more intense than usual, they adopted the name and applied it to that more potent but erratic climatic phenomenon. Now El Niño is used almost exclusively for the severe episodes rather than for the annual ones to which it was originally applied. 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 September 2, 2014 is: repugn • \rih-PYOON\ • verb : to contend against : oppose Examples: Over 450 students signed the petition repugning the school board's decision to fire the popular teacher. "Still to come, bad blood between Bloom and Bieber. Will we ever know what happened when the movie star repugns the pop star?" - Lester Holt, NBC News Transcripts, August 2, 2014 Did you know? Repugn is a word that was relatively common in English in the 16th and 17th centuries. These days, however, English speakers are more likely to be familiar with one of its close relatives, namely, the adjective repugnant, which formerly meant "hostile" but today most commonly means "exciting distaste or aversion." The Latin root for both of these words is pugnare, meaning "to fight." Other English derivatives from this root are pugnacious, meaning "belligerent," and impugn, meaning "to assail with words or arguments." Even pungent is a relative of pugnare. Therefore, don’t try to repugn, or impugn for that matter, the influence of pugnare on our language-lest you appear pugnacious! 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 September 1, 2014 is: impregnable • \im-PREG-nuh-bul\ • adjective 1 : incapable of being taken by assault : unconquerable 2 : unassailable; also : impenetrable Examples: "The castle was built on the corner of a great rock, so that on three sides it was quite impregnable…." - Bram Stoker, Dracula, 1897 "He is too generous in his assessment of Lee's disastrous frontal attacks at the Battle of Malvern Hill that capped the Seven Days campaign, and his equally futile assault-now famous as Pickett's Charge-on another impregnable federal position at Gettysburg, in 1863." - Fergus M. Bordewich, The New York Times, June 29, 2014 Did you know? Since the days when the Norman French ruled England, English-speakers have been captured by the allure of French terms. Impregnable is one of the many English words that bear a French ancestry. It derives from the Middle French verb prendre, which means "to take or capture." Combining prendre with various prefixes has given our language many other words, too, including surprise, reprise and enterprise. 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 August 31, 2014 is: permutation • \per-myoo-TAY-shun\ • noun 1 : 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 change 2 a : the act or process of changing the lineal order of an ordered set of objects b : an ordered arrangement of a set of objects Examples: The policy went through a number of permutations before the committee settled on its final version. "There are grilled cheeses with pierogi, hamburger patties, jerk shrimp and crabmeat. They use gouda, beer cheese, buffalo mozzarella and provolone. The permutations are potentially limitless." - Dan Gigler, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 31, 2014 Did you know? Permutation has not changed all that much since it was borrowed into Middle English from Anglo-French in the 14th century 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 August 30, 2014 is: cap-a-pie • \kap-uh-PEE\ • adverb : from head to foot Examples: The birthday girl-dressed cap-a-pie as a princess, from tiara to sequined slippers-waited excitedly for her guests to arrive. "It's only in cartoons that crows have yellow beaks and feet. They are of one shade cap-a-pie, black as midnight and fleet of wing." - M. D. Harmon, Portland Press Herald (Maine), January 5, 2004 Did you know? Think of a medieval knight riding off to battle completely encased (from head to foot, as it were) in armor. Knights thus outfitted were said to be "armed cap-a-pie." The term cap-a-pie, which has been used in English since at least the 16th century, descends from the Middle French phrase de cap a pé, meaning "from head to foot." Nowadays, it is generally extended to more figurative armor, as in "armed cap-a-pie against criticism." Cap-a-pie has also been credited with parenting another English phrase. Some people think the expression "apple-pie order," meaning "perfect order," may have originated as a corruption of "cap-a-pie order." The evidence for that theory is far from orderly, however, and it must be regarded as speculative. 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 August 29, 2014 is: precocial • \prih-KOH-shul\ • adjective : capable of a high degree of independent activity from birth Examples: The mallard is a type of precocial bird that can often fly independently just 24 hours after hatching. "Hares are like deer, horses and cattle in the sense that their offspring are precocial. They still have multiple offspring per pregnancy, but they are born fully furred with their eyes open." - Bill Danielson, The Recorder (Greenfield, Massachusetts), June 26, 2014 Did you know? Precocial and its partner altricial are really for the birds. Well, at least they are often used to describe the young of our feathered friends. The chicks of precocial birds can see as soon as they hatch and generally have strong legs and a body covered with fine down. Those are attributes you would expect in birds described by the word precocial, which traces to the Latin precox, a term that means "precocious" or "early ripening" (yes, that root also gave us the word "precocious"). Ducks, geese, ostriches, pheasants, and quail are among the birds that hatch precocial offspring. Altricial chicks, on the other hand, are basically featherless and helpless at birth and require days or weeks of parental care before becoming independent. 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 August 28, 2014 is: pica • \PYE-kuh\ • noun : an abnormal desire to eat substances (as chalk or ashes) not normally eaten Examples: Some women suffer from pica during pregnancy. "Pica is an eating disorder that makes you want to nibble on substances with no nutritional value. Sufferers crave washing powder, cigarette ash, dog food, soil, chalk, ice and raw rice, among other things." - Shenaaz Jamal, The Times (South Africa), June 17, 2014 Did you know? In Latin, pica means "magpie." The magpie bird is an opportunistic omnivore that characteristically eats just about anything. The eating disorder in which people are compelled to eat nonnutritious substances-such as ice, dirt, hair, or laundry starch-has since the 16th century taken its name from that bird of indiscriminate eating habits. Another pica dating back to the 16th century refers to a 12-point printing type. According to one theory, the name comes from a collection of church rules called "pica" whose close black print on white pages resembled the coloring of the magpie; however, no such collection printed in pica from the 16th century is known. 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 August 27, 2014 is: fleer • \FLEER\ • noun : a word or look of derision or mockery Examples: When Adam suggested that the firm's partners do the work pro bono he half-expected to be hit with a collective fleer, but the others readily agreed. "He expressed himself, of course, with eccentric abandon-it would have been impossible for him to do otherwise; but he was content to indicate his deepest feelings with a fleer." - Lytton Strachey, Eminent Victorians, 1918 Did you know? Fleer first appeared in English as a verb (fleryen in Middle English) meaning "to laugh, grin, or grimace in a coarse manner." The verb is of Scandinavian origin and is akin to the Norwegian flire, meaning "to giggle." The noun fleer first and most famously appeared in William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello, in which the evil Iago invites Othello to observe the signs of his wife's unfaithfulness in the visage of her supposed lover, Cassio: "And mark the fleers, the gibes, and notable scorns / That dwell in every region of his face…." 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 August 26, 2014 is: suffrage • \SUF-rij\ • noun 1 : a vote given in deciding a disputed question or electing a person for an office or trust 2 : the right of voting; also : the exercise of such right Examples: On August 26, 1920-42 years after such an amendment had first been introduced in Congress-the Nineteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution became law, finally granting women suffrage. "The Clark Chateau, 321 W. Broadway St., is hosting an exhibit that celebrates the centennial of women’s suffrage in the state of Montana." - Montana Standard, July 9, 2014 Did you know? Why would a 17th-century writer warn people that a chapel was only for "private or secret suffrages"? Because in addition to the meanings listed above, "suffrage" has been used since the 14th century to mean "prayer" (especially a prayer requesting divine help or intercession). So how did "suffrage" come to mean "a vote" or "the right to vote"? To answer that, we must look to the word’s Latin ancestor, "suffragium," which can be translated as "vote," "support," or "prayer." That term produced descendants in a number of languages, and English picked up its senses of "suffrage" from two different places. We took the "prayer" sense from a Middle French "suffragium" offspring that emphasized the word’s spiritual aspects, and we elected to adopt the "voting" senses directly from the original Latin. 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 August 25, 2014 is: operose • \AH-puh-rohss\ • adjective : tedious, wearisome Examples: The operose volume offers up considerably more verbiage than useful information. "But now competitors face an operose task: it is not enough that they know how to spell a tongue-twister, they should also know its meaning." - Economic Times, April 16, 2013 Did you know? "Operose" comes from the Latin "operosus" (meaning "laborious," "industrious," or "painstaking"). That word combines the noun "oper-," "opus," which means "work," with "-osus," the Latin equivalent of the English "-ose" and "-ous" suffixes, meaning "full of" or "abounding in." In its earliest uses, beginning in the mid-1500s, the word was used to describe people who are industrious or painstaking in their efforts. Within a little over 100 years, however, the word was being applied as it more commonly is today: to describe tasks and undertakings requiring much time and effort. 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 August 24, 2014 is: dovecote • \DUV-koht\ • noun 1 : a small compartmented raised house or box for domestic pigeons 2 : a settled or harmonious group or organization Examples: "The Sultan of Oman has also been a significant contributor, paying for the magnificent dovecote made from English walnut at the end of the lime walk." - Steve Whysall, Vancouver Sun, June 26, 2014 "A leaked anonymous letter, the so-called Trojan Horse letter, claimed there was a conservative Muslim conspiracy to infiltrate and take over as many as two dozen local schools. It caused fluttering in very many interested dovecotes." - Mary Dejevsky, Newsweek, June 15, 2014 Did you know? When Shakespeare's Coriolanus was condemned to die by the Volscians, the doomed general proudly reminded his enemies, "Like an eagle in a dove-cote, I Flutter'd your Volscians in Corioli." (Coriolanus was referring to an earlier victory in which his army had seized the city of Corioli from the Volscians.) When he introduced that eagle into the dovecote, Shakespeare also introduced a new figure of speech, but one that wasn't truly "discovered" by most writers until the 19th century-and then from a misquote. English novelist Edward G. Lytton reminded folks about it in 1853 when he wrote about how "the great Roman general did 'flutter the dove-cots in Corioli.'" Nowadays, we sometimes "ruffle" dovecotes or "cause a flurry" in them, in addition to "fluttering" them or "causing a flutter" in them. 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 August 23, 2014 is: purfle • \PER-ful\ • verb : to ornament the border or edges of Examples: The guitar maker used abalone shell to purfle the instrument. "She wore a silk dress purfled with gold, and they compared her beauty to the moon." - Nicholas Jubber, The Prester Quest, June 30, 2011 Did you know? Today we use "purfle" mostly in reference to setting a decorative inlaid border around the body of a guitar or violin, a process known as "purfling." In the past, "purfle" got the most use in connection with adornment of garments. "The Bishop of Ely … wore a robe of scarlet … purfled with minever," reported an English clergyman in 1840, for example. We embellished our language with "purfle," first as "purfilen" in the 1300s, when we took it with its meaning from Middle French "porfiler." 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 August 22, 2014 is: Davy Jones's Locker • \day-vee-johnz-LAH-ker\ • noun : the bottom of the ocean Examples: "We asked where the rest of the ship's company were; a gruff old fellow made answer, 'One boat's crew of 'em is gone to Davy Jones's locker: -went off after a whale, last cruise, and never come back agin.…'" - Herman Melville, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas, 1847 "They were storm driven throughout a long night and slammed into the cliffs of Guana Island 20 miles to the Southwest: a close call with Davy Jones' locker." - Jonathan Russo, Shelter Island Reporter (New York), June 23, 2014 Did you know? Was there a real Davy Jones? Folks have been pondering that question for centuries. Sailors have long used "Davy Jones" as the name of a personified evil spirit of the ocean depths, but no one knows exactly why. Some claim the original Davy Jones was a British pirate, but evidence of such a pirate is lacking. Others swear he was a London pub owner who kept drugged ale in a special locker, served it to the unwary, and then had them shanghaied. But the theory considered most plausible is that "Davy" was inspired by St. David, the patron saint of Wales. (St. David was often invoked by Welsh sailors.) "Jones" is traced to Jonah, the biblical figure who was swallowed by a great fish. 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 August 21, 2014 is: ragamuffin • \RAG-uh-muf-in\ • noun : a ragged often disreputable person; especially : a poorly clothed often dirty child Examples: Tourists in the city were often surrounded by young ragamuffins begging to be allowed to do small services for an equally small donation. "Miller shows remarkable range in her portrayal of Rose, who transforms from an underfoot ragamuffin to a confident vixen." - David N. Dunkle, The Patriot-News (Pennsylvania), July 18, 2014 Did you know? If you’ve guessed that "rag" or "ragged" is related to "ragamuffin," you may be correct, but the origins of today's word are somewhat murky. In Middle English the term functioned both as a surname and generically to denote a ragged and sometimes stupid person, and in the Middle English alliterative poem Piers Plowman William Langland used the word to serve as the name of a demon. The "muffin" part of "ragamuffin" may have its origin in either of two Anglo-Norman words for a devil or scoundrel, but that too is uncertain. No matter its muddied history: the word has continued to develop in modern times. It can also refer to a type of music with rap lyrics and a reggae beat, a meaning that can be found at Merriam-Webster Unabridged. 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 August 20, 2014 is: flyblown • \FLY-blohn\ • adjective 1 a : not pure : tainted b : not bright and new : seedy c : trite, hackneyed 2 : infested with eggs or young larvae of a blowfly Examples: "This is a mighty simple movie, with its flyblown wisdom spelled out." - Pauline Kael, The New Yorker, November 2, 1987 "The landscape of 'The Rover' is an arid, flyblown sandpit. We see a guarded container car train with Chinese markings clank across the horizon…. A vastness of tarmac roads connects nasty clusters of buildings that don't add up to towns." - Colin Covert, Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), June 20, 2014 Did you know? One meaning of "blow" (used mostly, it seems, by 17th century entomologists) is "to deposit eggs or larvae on"-hence the blowfly, which lays its eggs on meat or wounds. "Flyblown" has its origins in the very unpleasant image of a blowfly's victim, and it's from this literal meaning that the more common senses come. Phrases such as "flyblown shack" and "flyblown restaurant" still suggest the actual presence of flies, if not necessarily their embryonic precursors. 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 August 19, 2014 is: demesne • \dih-MAYN\ • noun 1 : legal possession of land as one’s own 2 a : the land attached to a mansion b : landed property : estate c : region, territory 3 : realm, domain Examples: Lewis and Clark were commissioned to explore the vast demesne of forests and plains that the United States acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. "Just as no monarch can ever quite control her entire demesne, no sister can ever quite neutralize the mischief of younger brothers." - Sebastian Smee, Boston Globe, February 4, 2014 Did you know? Why isn't "demesne" pronounced the way it's spelled? Our word actually began as "demayn" or "demeyn" in the 14th century, when it was borrowed from Anglo-French property law. At that time, the Anglo-French form was "demeine." Later, the Anglo-French spelling changed to "demesne," perhaps by association with another term from Anglo-French property law: "mesne," meaning "intermediate." ("Mesne" has entered English as a legal term as well.) According to rules of French pronunciation, the "s" was silent and the vowel was long. English speakers eventually followed suit, adopting the "demesne" spelling. Our word "domain" (which overlaps with the meaning of "demesne" in some applications) also comes from Anglo-French "demeine." 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 August 18, 2014 is: backstairs • \BAK-stairz\ • adjective : secret, furtive; also : sordid, scandalous Examples: The article accuses the influential Washington lobbyist of having been involved in a number of backstairs deals to limit regulation of financial institutions. "During the protracted balloting-it went four rounds before Jackson was declared the winner-backstairs talks began, aimed at stopping Jackson, according to operatives." -Jeff E. Schapiro, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia), May 22, 2013 Did you know? When Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, wrote in 1654 about leading someone "down a back-stairs," he wasn’t referring to anything scandalous. He simply meant "down a secondary set of stairs at the back of a house." Just over a decade earlier, however, Boyle’s contemporary, Sir Edward Dering, had used the phrase "going up the back-stairs" in a figurative way to suggest a means of approach that was not entirely honest and upfront. The figurative use likely arose from the simple notion that the stairs at the rear of a building are less visible and thus allow for a certain degree of sneakiness. By 1663, "backstairs" was also being used adjectivally to describe something done furtively, often with an underhanded or sinister connotation. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.