Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 5, 2013 is: hackneyed • \HAK-need\ • adjective : lacking in freshness or originality Examples: The new crime drama's characters are shallow stereotypes who engage one another in hackneyed dialogue. "Though it has been floating around Hollywood for a few years, and drawn some praise from insiders and would-be insiders, Noah Haidle's screenplay is pretty derivative and hackneyed." - From a review by Philip Martin in Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock), February 1, 2013 Did you know? "Hackney" entered the English language in the 14th century as a noun. Some think perhaps it came from "Hakeneye" (now "Hackney"), the name of a town (now a borough) in England. Others dispute this explanation, pointing to similar forms in other European languages. The noun "hackney," in any case, refers to a horse suitable for ordinary riding or driving-as opposed to one used as a draft animal or a war charger. When "hackney" was first used as a verb in the late 16th century, it often meant "to make common or frequent use of." Later, it meant "to make trite, vulgar, or commonplace." The adjective "hackneyed" began to be used in the 18th century and now is a common synonym for "trite." 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 April 4, 2013 is: redbrick • \RED-brik\ • adjective 1 : built of red brick 2 : of, relating to, or being the British universities founded in the 19th or early 20th century Examples: The round-table forum brought four distinguished Redbrick professors to face off against four renowned scholars from Oxford and Cambridge. "As the product of redbrick universities rather than the rarefied spires of Oxbridge, the Goldman Sachs oracle gives the impression of being a slightly hesitant candidate to succeed Sir Mervyn King at the Bank of England." - From an article by Alex Brummer in the Daily Mail (London), June 21, 2012 Did you know? Although red brick is a perfectly innocent building material in America, the British usage of "redbrick" is often potentially uncomplimentary. "Redbrick" is a British coinage created to denote the universities which were newer and perhaps less prestigious than Oxford and Cambridge (and sometimes the ancient universities of Scotland). These newer universities tended to be constructed of red brick, rather than the stone used for Oxford and Cambridge, and were most often created in industrial cities such as Liverpool. Sometimes the term is also used to distinguish these universities from those built after World War II. Limited evidence suggests that "redbrick" may be developing an extended meaning of "lower-class" or "working class," but this is not yet established enough to merit a dictionary entry. 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 April 3, 2013 is: boulevardier • \bull-uh-vahr-DYAY\ • noun : a frequenter of the Parisian boulevards; broadly : man-about-town Examples: Trevor fancies himself something of a boulevardier, and he appears in the newspaper's society pages often enough that the label seems apt. "Effervescent and boyish, he has a boulevardier's bounce and a performer's panache." - From an article by Mark Feeney in the New York Times, November 4, 2012 Did you know? The first boulevardiers got their name from the thoroughfares they frequented: the typically straight and geometrically precise boulevards of Paris. These particular men must have cut an impressive figure because the word "boulevardier" was eventually applied to any worldly and socially active man. Unlike many near-synonyms, "boulevardier" is generally a complimentary term. It differs from "flaneur" in that the latter refers to someone who is idle, and it doesn't imply the same vanity and foolishness that words like "fop," "dandy," and "coxcomb" do. 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 April 2, 2013 is: ambidextrous • \am-bih-DEK-strus\ • adjective 1 : capable of using both hands with equal ease 2 : unusually skillful : versatile 3 : characterized by duplicity : double-dealing Examples: "Jensen, a right-handed athlete, quickly began to teach himself to become ambidextrous." - From an article by Sam Blum in The Daily Orange (Syracuse, New York), February 20, 2013 "For that ambidextrous creature known as the author-illustrator-or at least for the best among them-story and art, like mind and body, are almost impossible to pull apart." - from a book review by Meg Wolitzer in the New York Times, November 10, 2011 Did you know? Latin "dexter" originally meant "related to or situated on the right side," but since most people do things better with the right hand, "dexter" developed the sense of "skillful" (as demonstrated by our word "dexterous"). In 1646, English physician and author Sir Thomas Browne combined "dexter" with the Latin prefix "ambi-" (meaning "both") in the first documented use of "ambidextrous": "Some are . . . ambidextrous or right-handed on both sides." The word can now describe the kind of physical or mental agility demonstrated by one with multiple diverse talents. 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 April 1, 2013 is: provenience • \pruh-VEE-nee-unss\ • noun : origin, source Examples: The museum has hired outside experts to help uncover the provenience and ownership history of several of its artifacts. "The mask's provenience is unclear; the dealer suggested that it originated from a cave in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico.…" - From an article by Jack Frazier and Reiko Ishihara-Brito in Antiquity, September 1, 2012 Did you know? Did you suspect that "provenience" and "provenance" originate from the same source? You're right; they're parent and child. "Provenance" is the older of the two. It has been used to mean "origin" in English since at least the 1780s, and it is modeled on the French verb "provenir," meaning "to come forth, originate." The French word, in turn, derives from Latin "provenire," a composite of "pro-" (meaning "forth") and "venire" (meaning "come"). "Provenience" is a chip off the old block, originating as a modification of "provenance" about 100 years after its parent debuted in English texts. The source of the extra syllable in "provenience" is most likely "proveniens," a participle of "provenire" (the similar Latin participle "conveniens" gave us "convenience," another "venire" derivative). 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 March 31, 2013 is: balneology • \bal-nee-AH-luh-jee\ • noun : the science of the therapeutic use of baths Examples: Balneology is used at the spa as a means of treating injured muscles. "Fortunately, our collection contains a large number of items relating to balneology, the science of baths and bathing, including pamphlets from hot spring resorts across the United States from the late 1800s and early 1900s." - From an article posted February 12, 2013 at nyamcenterforhistory.org Did you know? "Sure, the hot water feels good. Sure, the massage is nice. But it goes beyond that, advocates say." So wrote Ellen Creager in an article published on February 18, 2001 in the Detroit Free Press. The healing powers of mineral baths have long been touted by advocates like those mentioned by Creager. Though we've had the word "balneology" for just over 130 years, this method of treating aching muscles, joint pain, and skin ailments goes back to ancient times. Proponents of the science of bath therapy created the name "balneology" from the Latin word "balneum" ("bath") and the combining form "-logy" ("science"). Today, some medical institutes in Europe have departments of balneology. Modern "balneologists" impart their knowledge to, or themselves serve as, "balneotherapists," who apply their "balneotherapy" to clients. 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 March 30, 2013 is: obviate • \AHB-vee-ayt\ • verb : to anticipate and prevent (as a situation) or make unnecessary (as an action) Examples: Rob checks every ledger entry twice to obviate any problems when it comes time for an audit. "Some TVs come equipped with … technology that manufacturers incorporated to obviate the need for supplementary cable boxes." - From an article by Mike Rogoway in The Oregonian, January 13, 2013 Did you know? "Obviate" derives from Late Latin "obviare" (meaning "to meet or withstand") and Latin "obviam," which means "in the way" and is also an ancestor of our adjective "obvious." "Obviate" has a number of synonyms in English, including "prevent," "preclude," and "avert"; all of these words can mean to hinder or stop something. When you prevent or preclude something, you put up an insurmountable obstacle. In addition, "preclude" often implies that a degree of chance was involved in stopping an event. "Obviate" generally suggests the use of intelligence or forethought to ward off trouble. "Avert" always implies that a bad situation has been anticipated and prevented or deflected by the application of immediate and effective means. 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 March 29, 2013 is: fuliginous • \fyoo-LIJ-uh-nus\ • adjective 1 a : sooty b : obscure, murky 2 : having a dark or dusky color Examples: Theo's journalism professor encouraged him to eschew fuliginous prose in favor of simple, straightforward language. "For two weeks he continued his surveying in a fuliginous atmosphere of almost continual fog but then, on 5 August, the mists suddenly cleared, allowing him to make a detailed observation of a solar eclipse (on the appropriately named Eclipse Island, one of the tiny Burgeo Islands)." - From Frank McLynn's 2011 book Captain Cook: Master of the Seas Did you know? "Fuliginous" is a word with a dark and dirty past-it derives from "fuligo," the Latin word for "soot." In an early sense (now obsolete), "fuliginous" was used to describe noxious bodily vapors once thought to be produced by organic processes. The "sooty" sense, which English speakers have been using since the early 1620s, can be used to describe everything from dense fogs and malevolent clouds to overworked chimney sweeps. "Fuliginous" can also be used to refer to something dark or dusky, as in Henry James' novel The Ambassadors, in which the character Waymarsh is described as having "dark fuliginous eyes." 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 March 28, 2013 is: laudable • \LAW-duh-bul\ • adjective : worthy of praise : commendable Examples: Parents, faculty, and members of the community commended the students for their laudable efforts at cleaning up the park and renovating its play structures. "This revision of the school funding formula would align with and enable those laudable reforms to come to full fruition." - From an editorial in the Denver Post, February 23, 2013 Did you know? Both "laudable" and "laudatory" derive ultimately from Latin "laud-" or "laus," meaning "praise." "Laudable" and "laudatory" differ in meaning, however, and usage commentators warn against using them interchangeably. "Laudable" means "deserving praise" or "praiseworthy," as in "laudable efforts to help the disadvantaged." "Laudatory" means "giving praise" or "expressing praise," as in "a laudatory book review." People occasionally use "laudatory" in place of "laudable," but this use is not considered standard. 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 March 27, 2013 is: flehmen • \FLAY-mun\ • noun : a mammalian behavior (as of horses or cats) in which the animal inhales with the mouth open and upper lip curled to facilitate exposure of the vomeronasal organ to a scent or pheromone Examples: The vet explained to the children that what appeared to be a display of anger in the cat was actually a behavior called flehmen. "One of the behavioural components of male sexual display in all hoofed stock except the pig is the 'olfactory reflex' known as flehmen. In this reflex, [the] animal fully extends the head and neck, contracts the nares and raises the upper lip while taking shallow respiration." - From an article by S. Gul in the Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences, September 30, 2012 Did you know? "Flehmen" comes to English by way of German, in which language the word applies to animals and means "to curl the upper lip." The German source of the English word is a verb, and the English word is also used-albeit rarely-as a verb, as in "the horse flehmened." More often, though, the verbal form is actually a gerund: "the horse's flehmening." "Flehmen" is sometimes capitalized in English, as nouns are in German, but more often it is lowercase. 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 March 26, 2013 is: hallmark • \HAWL-mahrk\ • noun 1 : a mark put on an article to indicate origin, purity, or genuineness 2 : a distinguishing characteristic, trait, or feature Examples: The entertainer's new book features the same kind of wry humor that is the hallmark of his radio show. "His usually sympathetic, sometimes overgenerous interpretation of others' motives has been a hallmark of his character at least since his student days." - From an article by Hendrik Hertzberg in The New Yorker, February 4, 2013 Did you know? Centuries ago, King Edward I of England decreed that gold and silver had to be tested and approved by master craftsmen before being sold. Later, London artisans were required to bring finished metal goods to Goldsmith's Hall to be checked, and if those items met the quality standards of the craft-masters there, they would be marked with a special stamp of approval. (The process is much the same today.) At first, people used "hallmark" to name that mark of excellence from Goldsmith's Hall, but over the years the word came to refer to any mark guaranteeing purity or genuineness, and eventually to name any sign of outstanding talent, creativity, or excellence. 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 March 25, 2013 is: nascent • \NASS-unt\ • adjective : coming or having recently come into existence Examples: Brent began working at the company when it was in its nascent stage, with just a single one-room office and four employees. "Both Enterprise and Hertz have small car-sharing units. Zipcar is estimated to have the largest share of the nascent industry, which has about $400 million in annual sales among all companies." - From an article by Jerry Hirsch in the Los Angeles Times, January 3, 2013 Did you know? "Nascent" comes from "nascens," the present participle of the Latin verb "nasci," which means "to be born." It is a relative newcomer to the collection of English words that derive from that Latin verb. In fact, when the word "nascent" was itself a newborn, in the first quarter of the 17th century, other "nasci" offspring were already respectably mature. "Nation," "native," and "nature" had been around since the 1300s; "innate" and "natal," since the 1400s. More recently, we picked up some French descendants of "nasci": "née" in the 1700s and "Renaissance" in the 1800s. Our newest "nasci" word? It may well be "perinatology," which was first used in the late 1960s to name the specialized branch of medicine concerned with childbirth. 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 March 24, 2013 is: canorous • \kuh-NOR-us\ • adjective : pleasant sounding : melodious Examples: A canorous chorus of birdsong filled the morning air. "The album features fast and brooding melodies … and standout canorous piano and clean guitar moments…." - From a post by Caroline Jensen at Rock Edition, February 6, 2013 Did you know? In Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821), the essayist Thomas de Quincey describes a manservant who, after accidentally letting a loaded trunk fall down a flight of stairs, "sang out a long, loud, and canorous peal of laughter." "Canorous" typically describes things, such as church choirs or birds in the spring, that are a pleasure to listen to. It derives from the Latin verb "canere" ("to sing"), a root it shares with a number of words that evoke what is sweet to the ear, such as "chant," "canticle," "cantor" (a leader of a choir), "carmen" (a song, poem, or incantation) and even "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 March 23, 2013 is: riposte • \rih-POHST\ • noun 1 : a fencer's quick return thrust following a parry 2 : a retaliatory verbal sally : retort 3 : a retaliatory maneuver or measure Examples: The lifelong friends always greeted each other the same way: John would point out Gary's thinning hair, then Gary would come back with a riposte about John's golf game. "Modernism, with its strong Gothic influences recalling the glories of medieval Barcelona, was very much a riposte to the conservative architecture that flourished in Madrid at the time." - From an article by Andrew Allen in The New York Times, February 8, 2013 Did you know? In the sport of fencing, a riposte is a counterattack made after successfully fending off one's opponent. English speakers borrowed the name for this particular maneuver from French in the early 1700s, but the French had simply modified Italian "risposta," which literally means "answer." Ultimately these words come from the Latin verb "respondēre" meaning "to respond." It seems fitting that "riposte" has since come full circle to now refer to a quick and witty response performed as a form of retaliation. 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 March 22, 2013 is: grift • \GRIFT\ • verb 1 : to obtain (money) illicitly (as in a confidence game) 2 : to acquire money or property illicitly Examples: John grifted much of his income by carrying out elaborate cons against unsuspecting tourists. "Both victims lost substantial amounts of money, with one being grifted out of an astonishing $35,000.…" - From an article in SFist, September 6, 2012 Did you know? "Grift" was born in the argot of the underworld, a realm in which a "grifter" might be a pickpocket, a crooked gambler, or a confidence man-any criminal who relied on skill and wits rather than physical violence-and to be "on the grift" was to make a living by stings and clever thefts. "Grift" may have evolved from "graft," a slightly older word meaning "to acquire dishonestly," but its exact origins are uncertain. We do know that the verb "grift" first finagled its way into print in 1915 in George Bronson-Howard's God's Man: "Grifting ain't what it used to be. Fourteenth Street's got protection down to a system-a regular underworld tariff on larceny." 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 March 21, 2013 is: demotic • \dih-MAH-tik\ • adjective 1 : of, relating to, or written in a simplified form of the ancient Egyptian hieratic writing 2 : common, popular 3 : of or relating to the form of Modern Greek that is based on everyday speech Examples: The style of her art work is intentionally demotic, aimed at ordinary people rather than the elite of the art world. "The demotic dictionary gives researchers definitions, shows word uses and helps with translating texts. But it also serves as a reference guide for reconstructing and understanding ancient Egyptian culture, whether it's the nuances of government, commerce, politics, religion or male-female relationships." - From an article by Dawn Turner Trice in the Chicago Tribune, October 22, 2012 Did you know? You may recognize the root of "demotic" from words like "democracy" and "demography." The source of these words is the Greek word "dēmos," meaning "people." "Demotic" is often used of everyday forms of language (as opposed to literary or highbrow versions). It entered English in the early 1800s and originally designated a form of ancient Egyptian cursive script which by the 5th century BCE had come into use everywhere in Egypt for business and literary purposes (in contrast to the more complex, hieratic script retained by the clergy). "Demotic" has a newer specialized sense as well, referring to a form of Modern Greek that is based on everyday speech and that since 1976 has been the official language of Greece. 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 March 20, 2013 is: plaudit • \PLAW-dit\ • noun 1 : an act or round of applause 2 : enthusiastic approval - usually used in plural Examples: The latest installment in the movie series earned plaudits from critics and fans alike. "Just a year and a half after graduating from Los Angeles' private Harvard-Westlake School, Platt has … scored the show-stealing 'Mormon' role and won plaudits for offering an interpretation decidedly different from Josh Gad's Tony-nominated performance." - From a review by Kerry Reid in the Chicago Tribune, January 3, 2013 Did you know? Give yourself a round of applause if you recognize the similarity between today's featured word and a pair of familiar words. (There's a hint in the first half of the previous sentence, as well as in the first sense of the definition.) "Plaudit" was borrowed into English in the early 17th century from a form of the Latin verb "plaudere," meaning "to applaud." "Plaudere" is, of course, also the ancestor of "applaud" and "applause," as well as of "explode," "plausible," and the now archaic "displode" (a synonym of "explode"). 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 March 19, 2013 is: sacrosanct • \SAK-roh-sankt\ • adjective 1 : most sacred or holy : inviolable 2 : treated as if holy : immune from criticism or violation Examples: Our family traditions may seem silly to outsiders, but to us they are sacrosanct. "'Is college a lousy investment?' This was the question posed in a Newsweek cover story in the fall, a blunt challenge to America’s long-standing, nearly sacrosanct belief in the value of a college education." - From an article by Bob King in Business Lexington (Kentucky), February 14, 2013 Did you know? That which is sacrosanct is doubly sacred: the two Latin components underlying the word, "sacro" and "sanctus," were combined long ago to form a phrase meaning "hallowed by a sacred rite." "Sacro" means "by a sacred rite" and comes from "sacrum," a Latin noun that lives on in English anatomy as the name for our pelvic vertebrae-a shortening of "os sacrum," which literally means "holy bone." "Sanctus" means "sacred" and gave us "saint" and obvious words like "sanctimony," "sanctify," and "sanctuary." 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 March 18, 2013 is: fetter • \FET-er\ • noun 1 : a chain or shackle for the feet 2 : something that confines : restraint Examples: John keeps his smartphone with him when he goes hiking, but Linda leaves hers at home, preferring to free herself momentarily of the fetters of technology. "At the moment, legally speaking, Internet cafes operate in Ohio without fetter or review." - From an editorial by Thomas Suddes in The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, December 2, 2012 Did you know? While now used as a more general term for something that confines or restrains, "fetter" was originally applied specifically to a chain or shackle for the feet. Not surprisingly, the word's Old English ancestor, "feter," is etymologically shackled to "fōt," the Old English ancestor of "foot." Both words have a long history in the English language, dating back to the early 9th century, and are chained to Sanskrit "pad," Latin "ped-" and "pes," Greek "pod-" and "pous," Gothic "fotus," Norse "fōtr," and Old High German "fuoz." 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 March 17, 2013 is: katzenjammer • \KAT-sun-jam-er\ • noun 1 : hangover 2 : distress 3 : a discordant clamor Examples: The morning after the wedding, Pamela woke up with a blinding katzenjammer. "Combating your attack of the katzenjammers with more liquor may seem absurd, but desperate times demand desperate measures." - From an article by Lissa Townsend Rodgers in the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise (Oklahoma), August 16, 2012 Did you know? Have you ever heard a cat wailing and felt that you could relate? Apparently some hungover German speakers once did. "Katzenjammer" comes from German "Katze" (meaning "cat") and "Jammer" (meaning "distress"). English speakers borrowed the word for their hangovers (and other distressful inner states) in the 19th century and eventually applied it to outer commotion as well. The word isn't as popular in English today as it was around the mid-20th century, but it's well-known to many because of the "Katzenjammer Kids," a long-running comic strip featuring the incorrigibly mischievous twins Hans and Fritz. 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 March 16, 2013 is: carminative • \kahr-MIN-uh-tive\ • adjective : expelling gas from the stomach or intestines so as to relieve flatulence or abdominal pain or distension Examples: Fennel is a carminative herb that helps alleviate gas after a spicy meal. "Cumin seeds contain numerous phyto-chemicals that are known to have antioxidant, carminative and anti-flatulent properties, and are also an excellent source of dietary fibre." - From an article in Facts For You, May 5, 2012 Did you know? In times gone by, human personalities were believed to be controlled by four humors: blood, phlegm, choler (yellow bile), and melancholy (black vile). Though this belief was long ago discredited, its influence lingers on in the English language. When "carminative" came into use in the 15th-century medical field, carminative agents were thought to be effective because they influenced the humors. The word comes from Latin "carrere," meaning "to card," referring to the act of cleansing or disentangling. This history reflects the theory that certain humors could be "combed out" like knots in wool. 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 March 15, 2013 is: voracious • \vaw-RAY-shus\ • adjective 1 : having a huge appetite : ravenous 2 : excessively eager : insatiable Examples: Cemal is a voracious reader who whips through three or four books each week. "Hundreds of Humboldt squid washed up on Santa Cruz County beaches Sunday in a mass stranding that is not uncommon but remains somewhat of a mystery to marine scientists. The even more intriguing question, they say, is why the voracious feeders, also called jumbo flying squid, began venturing up to the Central Coast in 2000 from the Sea of Cortez and other warmer spots-and what their effect is on the ocean environment." - From an article by Cathy Kelly in Contra Costa Times, December 11, 2012 Did you know? "Voracious" is one of several English words that derive from the Latin verb "vorare," which means "to eat greedily" or "to devour." "Vorare" is also an ancestor of "devour" and of the "-ivorous" words that describe the diets of various animals. These include "carnivorous" ("meat-eating"), "herbivorous" ("plant-eating"), "omnivorous" ("feeding on both animals and plants"), "frugivorous" ("fruit-eating"), "graminivorous" ("feeding on grass"), and "piscivorous" ("fish-eating"). 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 March 14, 2013 is: quirk • \KWERK\ • verb : curve, twist Examples: "She was surprised by the humor that quirked his fine straight lips." - From Elizabeth George Speare's 1958 book The Witch of Blackbird Pond "Refusing to relinquish his own control in Jacksonville, Elvis created the familiar hysteria by surprise moves-standing stock-still and quirking his index finger to mimic the Elvis gyration." - From Bobbie Ann Mason's 2007 book Elvis Presley: A Life Did you know? Did you expect "quirk" to be a noun meaning "a peculiarity of action or behavior"? If so, you're probably not alone; the "peculiarity" sense of the noun "quirk" is commonly known and has been a part of our language since the 17th century. But "quirk" has long worn other hats in English, too. The sense meaning "a curve, turn, or twist" has named everything from curving pen marks on paper (i.e., flourishes) to witty turns of phrase to the vagaries or twists of fate. In contemporary English, the verb "quirk" is most often used in referring to facial expressions, especially those that involve crooked smiles or furrowed eyebrows. 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 March 13, 2013 is: behemoth • \bih-HEE-muth\ • noun : something of monstrous size, power, or appearance Examples: The town has voted against letting the retail behemoth build a store on the proposed site. "Interviews with an array of industry veterans … outline how Fairchild and the companies it spawned both developed the technologies and established the business and financial cultures that would eventually produce behemoths like Apple and Google." - From a television review by Mike Hale in The New York Times, February 5, 2013 Did you know? The original "behemoth" was biblical; it designated a mysterious river-dwelling beast in the Book of Job. Based on that description, scholars have concluded that the biblical behemoth was probably inspired by a hippopotamus, but details about the creature's exact nature were vague. The word first passed from the Hebrew into Late Latin, where, according to English poet and monk John Lydgate, writing in 1430, it "playne expresse[d] a beast rude full of cursednesse." In English, "behemoth" was eventually applied more generally to anything large and powerful. 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 March 12, 2013 is: piggyback • \PIG-ee-bak\ • adverb 1 : up on the back and shoulders 2 : on or as if on the back of another; especially : on a railroad flatcar Examples: The youngest of the hikers had the advantage of riding piggyback through the muddy fields. "Unfortunately, his footing wasn't as steady as he'd hoped, and he fell from the log.… He wasn't able to get himself up and had to be carried piggyback from the scene." - From a television show review by on HuffingtonPost.com, January 28, 2013 Did you know? Have you ever wondered where the porcine part of "piggyback" comes from? Well, it's not from the pigs themselves. The adverb "piggyback" likely began as "a pick pack." Another early form of the word is "pickback," evidence of which can be found in the still-extant variant "pickaback." The adverb "piggyback" dates to the mid-16th century, and the noun-referring to an act of carrying piggyback-was in use by the end of that same century. The adjective "piggyback," as in "piggyback ride," didn't enter the language until the 18th century, and the now-common verb "piggyback" didn't piggyback on the others until the late 19th century. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 11, 2013 is: cajole • \kuh-JOHL\ • verb 1 a : to persuade with flattery or gentle urging : coax b : to obtain from someone by gentle persuasion 2 : to deceive with soothing words or false promises Examples: Brianna was able to cajole some money from her father before leaving for the movies. "Walking across Niagara Falls on a high wire is supposed to be hard; that's the point of doing it. But after nearly a year of cajoling, pressuring and outright begging for legal permission to cross the scenic gorge between Canada and the United States, Wallenda is coming face to face with the practical challenges of fulfilling his lifelong dream." - From an article by Charlie Gillis at Macleans.ca, May 25, 2012 Did you know? "Cajole" comes from a French verb, "cajoler," which has the same meaning as the English word. You might not think to associate "cajole" with "cage," but some etymologists theorize that "cajoler" is connected to not one but two words for "cage." One of them is the Anglo-French word "cage," from which we borrowed our own "cage." It comes from Latin "cavea," meaning "cage." The other is the Anglo-French word for "birdcage," which is "gaiole." It's an ancestor of our word "jail," and it derives from Late Latin "caveola," which means "little cage." Anglo-French speakers had a related verb, "gaioler," which meant "to chatter like a jay in a cage." It's possible that "cajoler" is a combination of "gaioler" and "cage." 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 March 10, 2013 is: relict • \REL-ikt\ • noun 1 : a surviving species of an otherwise extinct group of organisms; also : a remnant of a formerly widespread species that persists in an isolated area 2 : something left unchanged Examples: This rare plant is a relict of a once abundant genus. "Northern flying squirrels still remain in the highest elevations of Virginia and are known as ice age relicts." From an article by Judy Molnar, Daily Press (Newport News, Virginia), June 6, 2010 Did you know? The oldest English sense of "relict" is extinct-or at least obsolete. In the 16th century, "relict" meant "an object esteemed and venerated because of association with a saint or martyr," but that meaning is now covered by "relic," a related word that can also refer to something left behind after decay or disappearance. "Relict" was also used to refer to a widow at one time, but now that sense is more or less limited to legal uses. It seems fitting that "relict" has outdated senses; after all, it derives ultimately from the Latin verb "relinquere," meaning "to leave behind." 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 March 9, 2013 is: de rigueur • \duh-ree-GUR\ • adjective : prescribed or required by fashion, etiquette, or custom : proper Examples: Although the teen was wearing a dinner jacket and a tie, his jeans and sneakers were hardly de rigueur for the formal occasion. "'Wait, wait, wait! Put on my eyeglasses,' I insisted, substituting my mom's lightweight frames for the thick, big black ones that are de rigueur right now for many a bespectacled 20-something." - From an article by Anthonia Akitunde in The Huffington Post, January 30, 2013 Did you know? If you're invited to a ball or other social function and the invitation includes the French phrase "costume de rigueur," you are expected to adhere to a very strict dress code-typically, a white tie and tails if you're a man and a floor-length evening gown if you're a woman. In French, "de rigueur" means "out of strictness" or "according to strict etiquette"; one definition of our word "rigor," to which "rigueur" is related, is "the quality of being strict, unyielding, or inflexible." In English, we tend to use "de rigueur" to describe a fashion or custom that is so commonplace within a context that it seems a prescribed, mandatory part of it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 8, 2013 is: indoctrinate • \in-DAHK-truh-nayt\ • verb 1 : to instruct especially in fundamentals or rudiments : teach 2 : to imbue with a usually partisan or sectarian opinion, point of view, or principle Examples: New hires were indoctrinated with the company's philosophy during a two-day orientation. "This is why sworn peace officers are indoctrinated not just in firearm use but in restraint." - From an editorial in the San Antonio Express-News, January 23, 2013 Did you know? "Indoctrinate" simply means "brainwash" to many people. But its meaning isn't always so negative. When this verb first appeared in English in the 17th century, it simply meant "to teach"-a meaning that followed logically from its Latin root. The "doc" in the middle of "indoctrinate" derives from the Latin verb "docēre," which also means "to teach." Other offspring of "docēre" include "docent" (referring to a college professor or a museum guide), "docile," "doctor," "doctrine," and "document." It was not until the 19th century that "indoctrinate" began to see regular use in the sense of causing someone to absorb and take on certain opinions or principles. 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 March 7, 2013 is: gnomic • \NOH-mik\ • adjective 1 : characterized by aphorism 2 : given to the composition of aphoristic writing Examples: Some critics have praised the young artist's gnomic utterances, while others argue that her sayings are simply pretentious rubbish. "The film is grand but complex, canny and sincere.… If Spielberg were more intellectual or more gnomic in discussing his films, he might be regarded not as a mass-market wizard but as a cult director." - From a film review by Francine Stock in Prospect, January 24, 2013 Did you know? A gnome is an aphorism-that is, an observation or sentiment reduced to the form of a saying. Gnomes are sometimes couched in metaphorical or figurative language, they are often quite clever, and they are always concise. We borrowed the word "gnome" in the 16th century from the Greeks, who based their "gnōmē" on the verb "gignōskein," meaning "to know." (That other "gnome"-the dwarf of folklore-comes from New Latin and is unrelated to today's word.) We began using "gnomic," the adjective form of "gnome," in the early 19th century. It describes a style of writing (or sometimes speech) characterized by pithy phrases, which are often terse to the point of mysteriousness. 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 March 6, 2013 is: meritorious • \mair-uh-TOR-ee-us\ • adjective : worthy of reward, gratitude, honor, or esteem Examples: Mrs. Goodman received the town's Meritorious Service Award for her untiring efforts to keep the library open. "In February 2011, President Barack Obama bestowed upon [Stan] Musial the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, which recognizes individuals who have made 'an especially meritorious contribution to the security of national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.'" - From an article by John Jeansonne in Newsday (New York), January 20, 2013 Did you know? People who demonstrate meritorious behavior certainly "earn" our respect, and you can use that fact to remember that "meritorious" ultimately traces to the Latin verb "merēre," which means "to earn." Nowadays, the rewards earned for meritorious acts are likely to be of an immaterial nature: gratitude, admiration, praise, etc. But that wasn't always so. The history of "meritorious" recalls a reward more concrete in nature: money. The Latin word "meritorius," an ancestor of the English "meritorious," literally means "bringing in money." 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 March 5, 2013 is: allusion • \uh-LOO-zhun\ • noun 1 : an implied or indirect reference especially in literature; also : the use of such references 2 : the act of making an indirect reference to something : the act of alluding to something Examples: The book's frequent literary allusions and high-flown turns of phrase made its narrative difficult to follow. "Speaking with characteristic bluntness after his victory was announced, Mr. Zeman said he wanted to be the president of all the Czechs, but 'not of Godfather structures here,' an allusion to the country's problems with corruption." - From an article by Dan Bilefsky in The New York Times, January 26, 2013 Did you know? "Allusion" was borrowed into English in the middle of the 16th century. It derives from the Latin verb "alludere," meaning "to refer to, to play with, or to jest," as does its cousin "allude," meaning "to make indirect reference" or "to refer." "Alludere," in turn, derives from a combination of the prefix "ad-" and "ludere" ("to play"). "Ludere" is a Latin word that English speakers have enjoyed playing with over the years; we've used it to create "collude," "delude," "elude," and "prelude," just to name a few. 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 March 4, 2013 is: paltry • \PAWL-tree\ • adjective 1 : inferior, trashy 2 : mean, despicable 3 : trivial 4 : meager, measly Examples: Anna told us she was tired of engaging in paltry work and longed to do something meaningful with her life. "Monday, I tried to cheer up snow fans who have been frowning at Seattle's paltry 0.6" of snowfall this winter by stating that February has had its share of snowfall over the years." - From a post by meteorologist Scott Sistek on KOMONews.com's weather blog, January 29, 2013 Did you know? Before "paltry" was an adjective, it was a noun meaning "trash." That now obsolete noun in turn came from "palt" or "pelt," dialect terms meaning "a piece of coarse cloth," or broadly, "trash." The adjective "paltry" first meant "trashy," but it currently has a number of senses, all generally meaning "no good." A "paltry house" might be run-down and unfit for occupancy; a "paltry trick" is a trick that is low-down and dirty; a "paltry excuse" is a trivial one; and a "paltry sum" is small and insufficient. 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 March 3, 2013 is: abandon • \uh-BAN-dun\ • noun : a thorough yielding to natural impulses; especially : enthusiasm, exuberance Examples: We chased one another through the snow, hurling snowballs with complete abandon. "He slid head first, dived for balls, threw runners out, stole home against the Phillies, played with the sort of reckless abandon that endeared him to fans in Washington." - From an article by Ed Graney in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, December 30, 2012 Did you know? The sense of "abandon" defined above is a relative newcomer to the English language, dating from the early 1800s, but the noun itself is about 200 years older, having been first used in the 1600s in the sense of "the act of abandoning." The earlier sense was influenced by the verb "abandon," which was borrowed by Middle English in the 1300s from Anglo-French "abandoner." The Anglo-French term in turn came from the phrase "(mettre) a bandun," meaning "to hand over" or "put in someone's control." The newer sense has been more directly influenced by French "abandon," which means not only "abandonment or surrender," but also "freedom from constraint." 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 March 2, 2013 is: thimblerig • \THIM-bul-rig\ • verb 1 : to cheat by trickery 2 : to swindle by a trick in which a small ball or pea is quickly shifted from under one to another of three small cups to fool the spectator guessing its location Examples: The appraiser looked closely at the painting and then reluctantly told us that we had been thimblerigged into buying a worthless copy. "Thimblerigging the market was such an accepted practice some traders were even taunted for not stealing enough." - From Leah McGrath Goodman's 2011 book The Asylum: The Renegades Who Hijacked the World's Oil Market Did you know? The game of thimblerig seems innocent enough. The thimblerigger places a little ball, pea, or other small object under one of three thimbles or cups. He or she deftly scoots the cups around on a table, then asks the player to bet on which one hides the object. But thimbleriggers are masters of sleight of hand and can move and manipulate the object unfairly-so the guileless player doesn't stand a chance of winning. (The poor bettor is probably unaware that "rig" has meant "to manipulate or control usually by deceptive or dishonest means" since the 1800s.) When the same sham is played with nutshells, it's called a "shell game," and there's a related game played with cards known as "three-card monte." 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 March 1, 2013 is: clepsydra • \KLEP-suh-druh\ • noun : an instrument designed to measure time by the fall or flow of a quantity of water : water clock Examples: The ancient Greeks were known to time political speeches with a clepsydra; when the water was gone, the oration was over. "One of the earliest mechanisms to measure time ... was a clepsydra or water clock ... in which a vessel either filled or emptied at some slow, regular rate...." - From an article by David W. Ball in Spectroscopy, December 2006 Did you know? In ancient times the sun was used to measure time during the day, but sundials weren't much help after dark, so peoples around the world invented clocks that used dripping water to mark the hours. In one kind of water clock, possibly invented by the Chaldeans, a vessel was filled with water that was allowed to escape through a hole. The vessel's inside was marked with graduated lines, and the time was read by measuring the level of the remaining water. The ancient Greeks called their water clocks "klepsydra" ("water thief"), which comes from "kleptein" ("to steal") and "hydōr" ("water"). English speakers stole "clepsydra" from the Greeks in the 16th century. Actual water clocks have become increasingly rare and we now use the word primarily in historical references. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 28, 2013 is: tchotchke • \CHAHCH-kuh\ • noun : knickknack, trinket Examples: Upon returning home from his trip to Maine, Jerry ceremoniously placed his new ceramic lobster next to the other tchotchkes on his mantelpiece. "Everywhere there is something to delight the eye-not tchotchkes, but art. Eccentric art, angular art, modern art, all a signifier of personal style." - From an article in Palm Beach Post, January 12, 2013 Did you know? Just as trinkets can dress up your shelves or coffee table, many words for "miscellaneous objects" or "nondescript junk" decorate our language. "Knickknack," "doodad," "gewgaw," and "whatnot" are some of the more common ones. While many such words are of unknown origin, we know that "tchotchke" comes from the Yiddish "tshatshke" of the same meaning, and ultimately from a now-obsolete Polish word, "czaczko." "Tchotchke" is a pretty popular word these days, but it wasn't commonly used in English until the 1970s. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 27, 2013 is: expunge • \ix-SPUNJ\ • verb 1 : to strike out, obliterate, or mark for deletion 2 : to efface completely : destroy 3 : to eliminate (as a memory) from one's consciousness Examples: Time and the forces of nature have expunged any evidence that a thriving community once existed in that location. "Eligible veterans can avoid jail time or get their charges expunged if they complete an intensive treatment and rehabilitation program." - From an article by Tracie Mauriello and Anya Sostek in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 22, 2012 Did you know? In medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, a series of dots was used to mark mistakes or to label material that should be deleted from a text, and those deletion dots can help you remember the history of "expunge." They were known as "puncta delentia." The "puncta" part of the name derives from the Latin verb "pungere," which can be translated as "to prick or sting" (and you can imagine that a scribe may have felt stung when his mistakes were so punctuated in a manuscript). "Pungere" is also an ancestor of "expunge," as well as a parent of other dotted, pointed, or stinging terms such as "punctuate," "compunction," "poignant," "puncture," and "pungent." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 26, 2013 is: pugilism • \PYOO-juh-liz-um\ • noun : boxing Examples: Long fascinated by the art and science of pugilism, Shane has collected biographies of noted boxers such as Muhammad Ali, Jack Dempsey, and Sonny Liston. "At 48, Cyr has found a way to make amateur pugilism pay. He's a participant and prime motivator behind an increasingly popular boxing event that pits members of the casino, nightclub, restaurant and even banking industries against each other." - From an article by John L. Smith in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, May 22, 2012 Did you know? The practice of fighting for sport was in place in a number of Mediterranean civilizations by 1500 B.C. (and recent evidence suggests that it may have flourished in parts of eastern Africa before that). By the 7th century B.C., boxing had become a staple of the Olympic Games in Greece. Soon afterward, the Romans picked up the sport and introduced the word "pugil" (a noun related to the Latin "pugnus," meaning "fist") to refer to a boxer. Boxing faded out with the decline of the Roman Empire, but resurged in popularity in the18th century. By the 1790s, "pugilist" and "pugilism" were firmly entrenched in the English lexicon. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 25, 2013 is: idiopathic • \id-ee-uh-PATH-ik\ • adjective 1 : arising spontaneously or from an obscure or unknown cause 2 : peculiar to the individual Examples: "Some dogs have idiopathic epilepsy, which means there's no real explanation for their seizures, though even a reasonably mild stressor may increase the odds of a seizure." - From an article by Steve Dale in the Orlando (Florida) Sentinel, November 13, 2012 "Juvenile idiopathic arthritis, diagnosed before age 16, causes chronic swelling of the joints along with redness, [Dr. Hilary] Haftel said." - From an article by Amanda Whitesell in the Livingston County (Michigan) Press, January 11, 2013 Did you know? "Idiopathic" joins the combining form "idio-" (from Greek "idios," meaning "one's own" or "private") with "-pathic," a form that suggests the effects of disease. The combining form "idio-" is typically found in technical terms. Examples include "idiographic," meaning "relating to or dealing with something concrete, individual, or unique"; "idiolect," meaning "the language or speech pattern of one individual at a particular period of life"; and "idiotype," meaning "the molecular structure and conformation of an antibody that confers its antigenic specificity." A more common "idio-" word is "idiosyncrasy," which most commonly refers to an unusual way in which a person behaves or thinks, or to an unusual part or feature of something. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 24, 2013 is: roseate • \ROH-zee-ut\ • adjective 1 : resembling a rose especially in having a pink color 2 : overly optimistic : viewed favorably Examples: Her memories of her childhood are pleasant, bordering on roseate; some of her siblings recall things a bit differently. "A delectable avocado and bacon-topped burger-smoky and juicy-has a lovely char and an oozy, roseate center…." - From a restaurant review by Joan Reminick in Newsday (New York), January 3, 2013 Did you know? "Everything's coming up roses." "He views the world through rose-tinted glasses." "She has a rosy outlook on life." In English, we tend to associate roses and rose color with optimism, and "roseate" is no exception. "Roseate" comes from the Latin adjective "roseus," and ultimately from the noun "rosa," meaning "rose." Figurative use of "roseate" began in the 19th century, and the literal sense of the term has been in the language since the 16th century. Literal uses of "roseate" are often found in descriptions of sunrises and sunsets. "Through yon peaks of cloud-like snow / The roseate sunlight quivers," wrote Shelley in Prometheus Unbound. And in an early short story, Edith Wharton wrote, "The sunset was perfect and a roseate light, transfiguring the distant spire, lingered late in the west." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 23, 2013 is: manifesto • \man-uh-FESS-toh\ • noun : a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer Examples: On the day of his sudden departure from the company, Rick posted an angry manifesto on the bulletin board outlining his reasons for leaving. "Mr. Eddie Lampert, the chairman of Sears Holdings and mastermind of the Kmart/Sears merger … famously published a 15-page manifesto in 2009 which covered everything from the economic meltdown to civil liberties, and contained a suggested reading list that included free-market Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek." - From an article by Mary Jane Quirk in Consumerist, January 8, 2013 Did you know? "Manifesto" is related to "manifest," which occurs in English as a noun, verb, and adjective. Of these, the adjective, which means "readily perceived by the senses" or "easily recognized," is oldest, dating to the 14th century. Both "manifest" and "manifesto" derive ultimately from the Latin noun "manus" ("hand") and "-festus," a combining form that is related to the Latin adjective "infestus," meaning "hostile." Something that is manifest is easy to perceive or recognize, and a "manifesto" is a statement in which someone makes his or her intentions or views easy for people to ascertain. Perhaps the most famous statement of this sort is the Communist Manifesto, written in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels to outline the platform of the Communist League. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 22, 2013 is: recuse • \rih-KYOOZ\ • verb : to disqualify (oneself) as a judge in a particular case; broadly : to remove (oneself) from participation to avoid a conflict of interest Examples: The judge recused herself because she was the sister-in-law of the defendant. "Planning commissioners in particular have been accused of conflict of interest for being involved professionally in too many projects that come before the commission. Many commissioners recuse themselves when considering projects." - From an article by Ed Stych in the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, January 18, 2013 Did you know? "Recuse" is derived from the Middle French word "recuser," which comes from Latin "recusare," meaning "to refuse." English speakers began using "recuse" with the meaning "to refuse or reject" in the 14th century. By the 15th century, the term had acquired the meaning "to challenge or object to (a judge)." The current legal use of "recuse" as a term specifically meaning "to disqualify (oneself) as a judge" didn't come into frequent use until the mid-20th century, however. Broader applications soon followed from this sense-you can now recuse yourself from such things as debates and decisions as well as court cases. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 21, 2013 is: ephemeral • \ih-FEM-uh-rul\ • adjective : lasting a very short time Examples: The young pop star's fame turned out to be ephemeral. "During the creation of the ephemeral show-the walls will be erased for a new exhibition later this month, leaving only a series of framed drawings behind-Ms. Dary visited the local library and copied pages from a 100-year-old local directory." - From an article by Tammy La Gorce in the New York Times, January 4, 2013 Did you know? The mayfly (order Ephemeroptera) typically hatches, matures, mates, and dies within the span of a few short hours (though the longest-lived species may survive a record two days); poets sometimes use this insect to symbolize life's ephemeral nature. When "ephemeral" (from the Greek word "ephēmeros," meaning "lasting a day") first appeared in print in English in the late 16th century, it was a scientific term applied to short-term fevers, and later, to organisms (such as insects and flowers) with very short life spans. Soon after that, it acquired an extended sense referring to anything fleeting and short-lived (as in "ephemeral pleasures"). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 20, 2013 is: trousseau • \TROO-soh\ • noun : the personal possessions of a bride usually including clothes, accessories, and household linens and wares Examples: I am fortunate to be in possession of various family heirlooms, including several items from my great-grandmother's trousseau. "Kate will promise to love, comfort, honor and keep Prince William. And as the countdown continues, the princess bride is not withering under the strain, seen around town-shopping, perhaps, for her honeymoon trousseau." - From a report by Natalie Morales in the NBC News Transcripts, April 23, 2011 Did you know? "Trousseau" is a descendant of the French verb "trousser," meaning "to truss" or "to tuck up." Fittingly, a bride might truss, or bundle, a variety of items as part of her trousseau-and it is perhaps not too surprising that "truss" is also a "trousser" descendant. "Trousser" itself is thought to have evolved from a Vulgar Latin word, "torsus," meaning "twisted." Another descendant of "trousser" is "retroussé," meaning "turned up," as in a "retroussé nose." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 19, 2013 is: white elephant • \WYTE-EL-uh-funt\ • noun 1 : a property requiring much care and expense and yielding little profit 2 : an object no longer of value to its owner but of value to others 3 : something of little or no value Examples: The town's white elephant is the run-down but historic theater, which has been closed for several years but still requires thousands of dollars in maintenance costs. "An artificially low interest rate … makes vast amounts of capital available to crony capitalists at cheap rates for speculative investment, which has swelled the GDP and left the Chinese landscape strewn with white elephants such as palatial municipal buildings, factories that stand still and empty hotels." - From an article by Mark Leonard in New Statesman, January 14, 2013 Did you know? The real "white elephant" (the kind with a trunk) is a pale pachyderm that has long been an object of veneration in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar. Too revered to be a beast of burden, the white elephant earned a reputation as a burdensome beast, one that required constant care and feeding but never brought a single cent (or paisa or satang or pya) to its owner. One story has it that the kings of Siam (the old name for Thailand) gave white elephants as gifts to those they wished to ruin, hoping that the cost of maintaining the voracious but sacred mammal would drive its new owner to the poorhouse. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 18, 2013 is: portend • \por-TEND\ • verb 1 : to give an omen or anticipatory sign of 2 : indicate, signify Examples: In the short story, the appearance of a black cat portends danger for the protagonist. "These changes portend better possibilities for American manufacturers and American job growth…." - From an article by James Fallows in The Atlantic, November 28, 2012 Did you know? "Portend" has been used in English in the context of signs of things to come since the 15th century. The word derives from the Latin verb "portendere," which means "to predict or foretell." That verb, in turn, developed as a combination of the prefix "por-" (meaning "forward") and the verb "tendere" (meaning "to stretch"). So you can think of "portend" as having a literal meaning of "stretching forward to predict." Additional descendants of "tendere" include "extend," "tendon," and "tension," 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 February 17, 2013 is: clamant • \KLAY-munt\ • adjective 1 : clamorous, blatant 2 : demanding attention : urgent Examples: Clamant students gathered outside the college president's office, protesting the denial of tenure for the popular professor. "My clamant desire, clamant need, for some protected wilderness in the Yaak Valley of northwestern Montana … sometimes doesn’t jibe with some people’s conceptual images of an environmentalist." - From Rick Bass's 2008 memoir Why I Came West Did you know? "Clamant" is considerably less common than its synonym "clamorous." As the similarities in spelling might suggest, these two words are etymologically related, both coming from the Latin verb "clamare," meaning "to cry out or shout." Another relative is the noun "claimant," meaning "one that asserts a right or title." The paths from "clamare" to "clamorous" and "claimant" follow routes that lead through Anglo-French. "Clamant," however, comes directly from Latin, deriving from "clamant-, clamans," the present participle of the verb "clamare." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 16, 2013 is: espouse • \ih-SPOWZ\ • verb 1 : marry 2 : to take up and support as a cause : become attached to Examples: The new theory has been espoused by many leading physicists. "[The food collection drive] was scheduled on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in the spirit of giving that King espoused." - From an article by Charles A. Peterson in The Granville Sentinel (Ohio), January 15, 2013 Did you know? As you might guess, the words "espouse" and "spouse" are related, both deriving from the Latin verb "spondēre," meaning "to promise or betroth." In fact, the two were once completely interchangeable, with each serving as a noun meaning "a newly married person" or "a husband or wife" and also as a verb meaning "to marry." Their semantic separation began in the 17th century, when the noun "espouse" fell out of use. Around the same time, people started using the verb "espouse" figuratively to mean "to commit to and support a cause." "Spouse" continued to be used in both noun and verb forms until the 20th century, when its verb use declined and it came to be used mainly as a noun meaning "husband or wife." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 15, 2013 is: intemperate • \in-TEM-puh-rut\ • adjective 1 : not moderate or mild : severe 2 : lacking or showing lack of restraint 3 : given to excessive use of alcoholic beverages Examples: The journalist eventually apologized for her intemperate rant against the governor. "Judge Dougan was forced to defend himself not for even a hint of corruption or intemperate behavior, but merely because the district attorney disagreed with his decisions." - From a letter to the editor by John Amabile in The Boston Globe, January 13, 2013 Did you know? "Intemperate" means more or less "not well tempered"-and that definition also provides a clue about its origins. The word derives from Latin "intemperatus," formed by combining "in-" with a form of the verb "temperare," meaning "to temper" or "to mix." Both "intemperate" and its antonym "temperate" entered the English language in the 14th century. Other "temperare" words include "distemper," "temperament," "temperature," "temperance," and "temper" itself. Synonyms of "intemperate" in the sense of "not controlled" include "unbounded," "unbridled," "unrestrained," and "unchecked." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.