hobbit: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 27 is:

hobbit \HOB-it\ noun
: a member of a fictitious peaceful and genial race of small humanlike creatures that dwell underground

Example sentence:
"As lush as any hobbit's realm, the forest engulfs Sams River Loop Trail...." (John G. Mitchell, _National Geographic_, July 1, 2004)

Did you know?
"What is a hobbit?" wrote J.R.R. Tolkien in the 1937 fantasy novel that introduced Mr. Bilbo Baggins. The author then answered himself: "They are (or were) little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded Dwarves.... There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along...." Tolkien tells us that hobbits "are inclined to be fat," and that they "dress in bright colours"; they "have good-natured faces, and deep fruity laughs (especially after dinner)." Tolkien, a professional linguist who taught at Oxford, coined the word "hobbit" (and many other terms -- in fact, a whole new language) for _The Hobbit_ and for his enormously popular series _The Lord of the Rings_.

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