paradigm: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 31 is:

paradigm \PAIR-uh-dyme\ noun
*1 : example, pattern; especially: an outstanding example or archetype
2 : a philosophical and theoretical framework of a scientific school or discipline

Example sentence:
In operation for over 50 years, the Bergs' restaurant has long been a paradigm of efficient small-business management.

Did you know?
"Paradigm" traces to a Greek verb meaning "to show" and has been used in English to mean "example" or "pattern" since the 15th century. Some debate exists, however, over what kind of example qualifies as a paradigm. Some people say it's a typical example, while others insist it must be an outstanding or perfect example. The scientific community has added to the confusion by using it to mean "a theoretical framework," a sense popularized by American scientist Thomas S. Kuhn in the second edition of his influential book _The Structure of Scientific Revolutions_. In that work, Kuhn admitted that he had used "paradigm" in 22 different ways. Some usage commentators now advise avoiding the term entirely on the grounds that it is overused.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Job's comforter: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 30 is:

Job's comforter \JOHBZ-KUM-fer-ter\ noun
: a person who discourages or depresses while seemingly giving comfort and consolation

Example sentence:
When Tracey's second interview didn't go well, more than one Job's comforter remarked that she probably would have hated the job anyway.

Did you know?
Poor Job. He's the biblical character who endures extraordinary afflictions in a test of his piety. He loses his possessions, his children, and his health. And then, to make matters worse, three friends show up to "comfort" him. These friends turn out to be no comfort at all. Instead, they say that the things that have been happening to him happen to all sinners -- and point out a number of his faults. In the mid-18th century, English speakers began using the phrase "Job's comforter" for anyone who offers similarly unhelpful consolation.

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extradite: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 29 is:

extradite \EK-struh-dyte\ verb
*1 : to surrender (an alleged criminal) to another authority having jurisdiction to try the charge
2 : to obtain the surrender of (an alleged criminal) from another authority

Example sentence:
The treaty between the two nations provides that neither country is bound to extradite its own citizens.

Did you know?
Some countries have a tradition of extradition -- a fact which might concern criminals. But though few criminals who are extradited are likely to care whether "extradition" and "tradition" are related, indeed they are -- both "extradition" and "tradition" come from the Latin verb "tradere," which means "to hand over." (Think of a tradition as something handed over from one generation to the next.) Some other words that have been handed down from "tradere" include "betray," "traitor," and "treason."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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anomaly: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 28 is:

anomaly \uh-NAH-muh-lee\ noun
1 : the angular distance of a planet from its perihelion as seen from the sun
2 : deviation from the common rule : irregularity
*3 : something anomalous : something different, abnormal, peculiar, or not easily classified

Example sentence:
Don is something of an anomaly in the world of top management in that he works 9-5 and spends evenings with his family.

Did you know?
You might be familiar with the Greek word "homos," which means "same." It is from this word that we get words like "homonym," "homogeneous," and "homophone," all of which have to do with sameness or similarity. What does this have to do with "anomaly"? Though it's not obvious, "homos" is a part of the etymology of "anomaly," too. "Anomaly" is a descendant of the Greek word "anomalos," which means "uneven" or "irregular." "Anomalos" comes from the prefix "a-" (meaning "not") and the word "homalos" (meaning "even"). And "homalos" comes from "homos."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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skylark: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 27 is:

skylark \SKYE-lark\ verb
1 : to run up and down the rigging of a ship in sport
*2 : frolic, sport

Example sentence:
As the couple was walking past the playground, they stopped and watched the happy children laugh and skylark and thought about how they would soon be having a child.

Did you know?
As far as we know, people were skylarking at sea before they were larking on land. "Skylarking" was originally a term used by seamen for their scampering about on the rigging of ships. The first known use of the word in print is from 1809, though the term was part of the sailor's vernacular before that. "Lark," meaning "to engage in harmless fun or mischief," didn't get jotted down until 1813. Whether or not the meanings of these words came about from the song and/or behavior of birds is uncertain. One theory of the verb "lark" is that it began as a misinterpretation of the verb "lake," which in British dialect means "to play or frolic."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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amiable: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 26 is:

amiable \AY-mee-uh-bul\ adjective
1 : generally agreeable
*2 : being friendly, sociable, and congenial

Example sentence:
We certainly don't mind if you bring your friend to the party; he's an amiable guy who's sure to find some new friends during the event.

Did you know?
"Amiable" derives from the Late Latin adjective "amicabilis," meaning "friendly," which in turn comes from the Latin word for "friend" and can ultimately be traced back to "amare," meaning "to love." When "amiable" was adopted into English in the 14th century, it meant "pleasing" or "admirable," but that sense is now obsolete. The current, familiar senses of "generally agreeable" ("an amiable movie") and "friendly and sociable" came centuries later. "Amare" has also given English speakers such words as "amative" and "amorous" (both meaning "strongly moved by love"), "amour" ("a usually illicit love affair"), and even "amateur" (which originally meant "admirer").

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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recumbent: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 25 is:

recumbent \rih-KUM-bunt\ adjective
*1 a : suggestive of repose : leaning, resting b : lying down
2 : representing a person lying down

Example sentence:
When Bert glanced at his father's recumbent form in the armchair, he immediately thought that he could use a good nap himself.

Did you know?
If you're ready to take your vocabulary lying down, you'll want to be familiar with the synonyms "recumbent," "prone,"
"supine," and "prostrate," all of which mean "lying down." "Recumbent," which derives from the Latin prefix "re-" and the verb "cumbere," meaning "to lie down," focuses on the posture or position native to sleeping or resting. "Prone" describes someone who is lying facedown, as, for example, in doing push-ups. "Supine" flips it over, suggesting the position of someone lying inert on the back, while "prostrate" implies a full-scale physical collapse or submission, regardless of the exact position of the defeated body. "Recumbent," dating from 1705, is the newest of the four words; the others all entered English before the 16th century.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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pariah: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 24 is:

pariah \puh-RYE-uh\ noun
1 : a member of a low caste of southern India
*2 : one that is despised or rejected : outcast

Example sentence:
Sasha became a pariah among the experts in her field after publishing a highly inflammatory article.

Did you know?
"Pariah" comes from Tamil, the language spoken in Tamil Nadu, a state of India, and in parts of Sri Lanka. The predecessor of "pariah" is the Tamil word "paraiyan," which literally means "drummer." "Paraiyan" is also the name of an ancient tribal group whose members are included in the Untouchables, or Harijans, the lowest caste in India. Consisting mostly of servants and laborers, members of this tribal group traditionally beat their drums at festivals but were excluded from religion processions. "Pariah" was originally the English rendering of the name of that specific group. It was eventually extended to denote any member of the lowest Hindu caste, and finally used more broadly as a synonym of "outcast."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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consequential: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 23 is:

consequential \kahn-suh-KWEN-shul\ adjective
1 : of the nature of a secondary result : indirect
2 : following as a result or effect : consequent
*3 : having significant consequences : important

Example sentence:
Who would have thought stepping off the elevator on the wrong floor that day would be such a consequential moment in Wayne's life?

Did you know?
"Consequential" dates from the 17th century and can be traced back to the Latin verb "consequi," meaning "to follow along." "Consequi," in turn, combines the prefix "con-," meaning "through" or "with," and "sequi," meaning "to follow." The English words "sequel," "second," and "suitor" are among the offspring of "sequi." With the publication of Henry Fielding's 1728 comedy _Love in Several Masques_,
"consequential," which until that point had been used primarily in the context of results, acquired the meaning "important." Evidence for this usage declined temporarily in the 19th century, causing its acceptability to be questioned by such commentators as H. W. Fowler; it resurfaced in the 20th century, however, and is now considered standard.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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instauration: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 22 is:

instauration \in-stor-RAY-shun\ noun
*1 : restoration after decay, lapse, or dilapidation
2 : an act of instituting or establishing something

Example sentence:
"Once, humanity dreamed of the great instauration -- a rebirth of ancient wisdom that would compel us into a New Age...." (Knute Berger, _Seattle Weekly_, December 14, 2005)

Did you know?
"Instauration" first appeared in English in the early 17th century, a product of the Latin verb "instaurare," meaning "to renew or restore." This same source gave us our verb "store," by way of Middle English and Anglo-French. Less than 20 years after "instauration" broke into English, the philosopher Francis Bacon began writing his _Instauratio Magna_, which translates to _The Great Instauration_. This uncompleted collection of works, which was written in Latin, calls for a restoration to a state of paradise on earth, but one in which mankind is enlightened by knowledge and truth.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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lampoon: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 21 is:

lampoon \lam-POON\ verb
: to make the subject of a lampoon : ridicule

Example sentence:
A local cartoonist lampooned the mayor, portraying him as a slow, drawling bumpkin.

Did you know?
"Lampoon" can be a noun or a verb. The noun "lampoon" (meaning "satire," or, specifically, "a harsh satire usually directed against an individual") was first used in English in 1645. The verb followed about a decade later. The words come from the French "lampon," and probably originated with "lampons," the first person plural imperative of "lamper" ("to guzzle"). "Lampons!" (meaning "Let us guzzle!") is a frequent refrain in 17th-century French satirical poems.

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dunnage: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 20 is:

dunnage \DUN-ij\ noun
*1 : loose materials used to support and protect cargo in a ship's hold; also : padding in a shipping container
2 : baggage

Example sentence:
The container and dunnage add almost two more pounds to the total shipping weight of the items we're sending.

Did you know?
Here's a little quiz for word history buffs. Which of the following statements is true?

a) "Dunnage" derives from the Low German word "dunne twige," meaning "brushwood."
b) "Dunnage" derives from "Dunlop," the name of a famous cheese-making town in Scotland.
c) Etymologists don't know the exact origin of "dunnage."

You've got the goods if you guessed "c." Etymologists have pointed out the similarity of "dunnage" and "dunne twige," but no one has ever proven the two are related. Dunlop lent its name to the cheese it's so famous for, but neither the town nor the cheese has any connection to "dunnage." Truth be told, though "dunnage" has been with us since the 15th century, its etymological history remains a mystery.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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curfew: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 19 is:

curfew \KER-fyoo\ noun
*1 : a regulation requiring the withdrawal of specified persons from the streets or the closing of business establishments at a stated hour
2 : a signal to announce the beginning of a curfew
3 a : the hour at which a curfew becomes effective b : the period during which a curfew is in effect

Example sentence:
Bar owners were happy when the mayor of New Orleans lifted the 2 a.m. curfew imposed after Hurricane Katrina.

Did you know?
Some 700 years ago, in medieval Europe, a bell rang every evening at a fixed hour, and townspeople were required by law to cover or extinguish their hearth fires. It was the "cover fire" bell, or, as the French called it, "coverfeu" (from their verb meaning "to cover" and their word for "fire"). By the time the English version, "curfew," appeared, the authorities no longer regulated hearth fires, but an evening bell continued to be rung for various purposes -- whether to signal the close of day, an evening burial, or enforcement of some other evening regulation. This "bell ringing at evening" became the first English sense of "curfew." Not infrequently, the regulation signaled by the curfew involved regulating people's movement in the streets, and this led to the modern senses of the word.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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tortuous: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 18 is:

tortuous \TOR-chuh-wus\ adjective
*1 : marked by repeated twists, bends, or turns : winding
2 a : marked by devious or indirect tactics : crooked, tricky b : circuitous, involved

Example sentence:
The road over the mountains was long and dangerously tortuous.

Did you know?
Be careful not to confuse "tortuous" with "torturous." These two words are relatives, and both ultimately come from the Latin verb "torquere," which means "to twist," "to wind," or "to wrench," but "tortuous" means "winding" or "crooked," whereas "torturous" means "painfully unpleasant." Something "tortuous" (such as a twisting mountain road) might also be "torturous" (if, for example, you have to ride up that road on a bicycle!), but that doesn't make these words synonyms. The twists and turns that mark a tortuous thing can be literal ("a tortuous path" or "a tortuous river") or figurative ("a tortuous argument" or "a tortuous explanation"), but you should consider choosing a different descriptive term if no implication of winding or crookedness is present.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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thank-you-ma'am: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 17 is:

thank-you-ma'am \THANK-yoo-mam\ noun
: a bump or depression in a road; especially : a ridge or hollow made across a road on a hillside to cause water to run off

Example sentence:
"That night on the way home, thinking of his pleasant visit, he was suddenly shaken out of his tranquility ... when his touring car hit a 'thank-you-ma'am' in the unpaved road." (Hugh Manchester, _Centre Daily Times_ [State College, PA], August 22, 2000)

Did you know?
"Thank-you-ma'am" might seem like an odd name for a bump in the road, but the expression makes a little more sense if you imagine the motion your head would make as you drove over such an obstacle. Most likely, the jarring would make you nod involuntarily. Now think of the nodding gesture you make when you're thanking someone or acknowledging a favor. The "thank-you-ma'am" road bump is believed to have received its name when someone noted the similarity of those two head bobbing motions. It's a colloquialism particular to American English, and its earliest printed use is found in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1849 prose piece, _Kavanagh_: "We went like the wind over the hollows in the snow; -- the driver called them 'thank-you-ma'ams,' because they make every body bow."

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apex: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 16 is:

apex \AY-peks\ noun
1 a : the uppermost point : vertex b : the narrowed or pointed end : tip
*2 : the highest or culminating point

Example sentence:
The apex of her athletic career was winning a gold medal at the Olympics.

Did you know?
When you make it to the top (either literally or figuratively), you've reached the "apex" or "summit" or "pinnacle" or "acme," but the exact nature of your perch varies depending upon which of those words you choose. "Apex" implies the point where all ascending lines converge ("the apex of Dutch culture"), while "summit" suggests the topmost level attainable ("the summit of the Victorian social scene"). A "pinnacle" is often a dizzying and insecure height ("the pinnacle of worldly success"), but "acme" carries the sense of reaching a level of quality representing perfection ("a statue that was once deemed the acme of beauty").

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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saccade: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 15 is:

saccade \sak-KAHD\ noun
: a small rapid jerky movement of the eye especially as it jumps from fixation on one point to another (as in reading)

Example sentence:
In reading, the eyes scan the text in a series of saccades and form what can be thought of as still photographs processed by the brain.

Did you know?
"Saccade" is a French word meaning "twitch" or "jerk." It galloped into English in the early 18th century as a term used in horseback riding for a quick check using the reins. (Today, this meaning is too specialized for entry in _Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary_, but it is stabled in _Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged_.) In 1879, French ophthalmologist Emile Javal observed that a reader's eyes make a series of short jumps, which he referred to in French as saccades. It wasn't until 1938, however, when experimental psychologist Robert Woodworth wrote about the pioneering Javal and his saccades, that the ocular use of the word was seen in an English publication.

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discomfit: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 14 is:

discomfit \diss-KUM-fit\ verb
1 : to frustrate the plans of : thwart
*2 : to put into a state of perplexity and embarrassment : disconcert

Example sentence:
The governor appeared to be discomfited by the reporter's question, and he struggled for a way to change the subject.

Did you know?
Disconcerted by "discomfit" and "discomfort"? Here's a little usage history that might help. Several usage commentators have, in the past, tried to convince their readers that "discomfit" means "to rout" or "to completely defeat" and not "to discomfort, embarrass, or make uneasy." In its earliest uses "discomfit" did in fact mean "to defeat in battle," but that sense is now rare, and the extended sense, "to thwart," is also uncommon. Most of the recent commentaries agree that the sense "to discomfort or disconcert" has become thoroughly established and is the most prevalent meaning of the word. There is one major difference between "discomfit" and "discomfort," though -- "discomfit" is used almost exclusively as a verb, while "discomfort" is much more commonly used as a noun than a verb.

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mogul: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 13 is:

mogul \MOH-gul\ noun
1 capitalized : an Indian Muslim of or descended from one of several conquering groups of Mongol, Turkish, and Persian origin; especially : Great Mogul
*2 : a great personage : magnate

Example sentence:
The media mogul owned such a large number of newspapers and television stations across the country that his influence on political discourse could not be denied.

Did you know?
Started by Babur, a descendant of Genghis Khan, the Muslim Mogul dynasty ruled much of India from the early 16th century to the mid-18th century. The Moguls were known for their talented and powerful rulers (called "Great Moguls"), so it's no surprise that in English the word "mogul" came to denote a powerful person, as in our frequent references to "movie moguls," "industry moguls," and the like. Skiers might wonder if such power moguls have anything to do with the name they use for a bump in a ski run, but that hilly homonym has nothing to do with Asian Mogul dynasties. We picked up the skier's "mogul" from a German dialect root that is probably related to the Viennese "mugl," meaning "small hill."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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dithyramb: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 12 is:

dithyramb \DITH-ih-ram\ noun
1 : a usually short poem in an inspired wild irregular strain
*2 : a statement or writing in an exalted or enthusiastic vein

Example sentence:
"Among the items offered was the brand of peanut butter I especially relish..., with my published dithyramb to it alongside." (William F. Buckley Jr., _The New Yorker_, February 9, 1987)

Did you know?
In ancient Greece, the wine god Dionysus (or Bacchus) was feted several times throughout the year. Processions, feasts, dances, and dramatic performances, accompanied by poems recited or sung in the god's honor, were all part of the revelry. Not too surprisingly, the poems tended to be wild, irregular, and dissonant. We know that the Greeks used "dithyrambos" as the word for a poem in honor of Dionysus, but beyond that the origin of the word is unknown. The ancient Greeks also had an adjective, "dithyrambikos," which gave us our adjective "dithyrambic," meaning "pertaining to or resembling a dithyramb."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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ambivalent: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 11 is:

ambivalent \am-BIV-uh-lunt\ adjective
*1 : simultaneously holding contradictory attitudes or feelings (as attraction and repulsion) toward someone or something
2 a : continually fluctuating (as between one thing and its opposite) b : uncertain as to which approach to follow

Example sentence:
I love learning about the solar system, but I'm ambivalent about paying to take an astronomy course.

Did you know?
The words "ambivalent" and "ambivalence" entered English during the early 20th century in the field of psychology. They came to us through the International Scientific Vocabulary, a set of words common to men and women of science who speak different languages. The prefix "ambi-" means "both," and the "-valent" and "-valence" parts ultimately derive from the Latin verb "valere," meaning "to be strong." Not surprisingly, an ambivalent person is someone who has strong feelings on more than one side of a question or issue.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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piquant: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 10 is:

piquant \PEE-kunt\ adjective
1 : agreeably stimulating to the palate; especially : spicy
*2 : engagingly provocative; also : having a lively arch charm

Example sentence:
Reggie's piquant commentary always makes for interesting listening, though sometimes his remarks can go too far.

Did you know?
Piquant flavors "sting" the tongue and piquant words "prick" the intellect, arousing interest. These varying senses reflect the etymology of the word "piquant," which first appeared in English in the 17th century and which derives from the Middle French verb "piquer," meaning "to sting" or "to prick." Though first used to describe foods with spicy flavors, the word is now often used to describe things that are spicy in other ways, such as engaging conversation. Have we piqued your curiosity about another "piquer" offspring? If you've already guessed that the verb "pique," meaning "to offend" or "to arouse by provocation," comes from "piquer," too, you've got a sharp mind.

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utopia: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 9 is:

utopia \yoo-TOH-pee-uh\ noun
1 : an imaginary and indefinitely remote place
*2 often capitalized : a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions
3 : an impractical scheme for social improvement

Example sentence:
To some folks, gated communities are visions of Utopia -- safe, quiet, and out of the way.

Did you know?
In 1516, English humanist Sir Thomas More published a book titled _Utopia_. It compared social and economic conditions in Europe with those of an ideal society on an imaginary island located off the coast of the Americas. More wanted to imply that the perfect conditions on his fictional island could never really exist, so he called it "Utopia," a name he created by combining the Greek words "ou" (meaning "no, not") and "topos" (meaning "place," a root used in our word "topography"). The modern generic use of "utopia," referring to an ideal place or society, was inspired by the book and the author's description of Utopia's perfection.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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portentous: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 8 is:

portentous \por-TEN-tuss\ adjective
1 : of, relating to, or constituting a portent
2 : eliciting amazement or wonder : prodigious
3 *a : being a grave or serious matter b : self-consciously solemn or important : pompous c : ponderously excessive

Example sentence:
Saving any species from extinction is a portentous matter, but the Save-the-Owl folks could garner more support with a lighter approach.

Did you know?
It's easy to see the "portent" in "portentous," which comes to us from the Latin adjective "portentosus," itself the offspring of the noun "portentum," meaning "portent" or "omen." And indeed, the first uses of "portentous" in the mid-1500s did refer to omens. The second sense of "portentous," describing that which is extremely impressive, also developed in the 1500s. Centuries later, an editor working on the second edition of _Webster's New International Dictionary_ in the 1930s added a third definition, "grave, solemn, significant," which has since been refined to include the suggestion of a pompous attitude. We are not sure just when the third sense arose, but our evidence goes back to the beginning of the century. And these days, it's the sense we most often use.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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diapason: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 7 is:

diapason \dye-uh-PAY-zun\ noun
1 *a : a burst of sound b : the principal foundation stop in the organ extending through the complete range of the instrument c : the entire compass of musical tones d : range, scope
2 a : tuning fork b : a standard of pitch

Example sentence:
Diapasons of laughter echoed through the auditorium as the comedian wrapped up his act.

Did you know?
"Diapason" covers a wide range of meanings in English, almost all pertaining to music or sound. The word derives from the Greek roots "dia-," which means "through" and occurs in such words as "diameter" and "diagonal," and "pason," the genitive feminine plural of "pas," meaning "all." "Pas" is related to the prefix "pan-," which is used in such words as "pantheism" and "pandemic." In Greek, the phrase "he dia pason chordon symphonia" translates literally to "the concord through all the notes," with the word "concord" here referring to a combination of tones that are heard simultaneously and produce an agreeable impression on the listener.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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emollient: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 6 is:

emollient \ih-MAHL-yunt\ noun
: something that softens or soothes

Example sentence:
Doctors wash their hands so often that many have to rely on a constant application of emollients to avoid having terribly dry skin.

Did you know?
"Emollient" derives from the present participle of the Latin verb "emollire," which, unsurprisingly, means "to soften or soothe." "Emollire," in turn, derives ultimately from "mollis," meaning "soft." Another descendant of "mollis" is "mollify" (essentially meaning "to make softer in temper or disposition"). A more distant relative is "mild," which can be traced back to the same ancient source as "mollis." The adjective "emollient" first appeared in print in English in 1626; the noun arrived on the scene about 30 years later.

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desiccate: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 5 is:

desiccate \DESS-ih-kayt\ verb
*1 : to dry up or become dried up
2 : to preserve (a food) by drying : dehydrate
3 : to drain of emotional or intellectual vitality

Example sentence:
Weeks of blazing heat along with a prolonged lack of rain have desiccated many of the plants in our garden.

Did you know?
Raisins are desiccated grapes; they're also dehydrated grapes. And yet, a close look at the etymologies of "desiccate" and "dehydrate" raises a tangly question. In Latin "siccus" means "dry," whereas the Greek stem "hydr-" means "water." So how could it be that "desiccate" and "dehydrate" are synonyms? The answer is in the multiple identities of the prefix "de-." It may look like the same prefix, but the "de-" in "desiccate" means "completely, thoroughly," as in "despoil" ("to spoil utterly") or "denude" ("to strip completely bare"). The "de-" in "dehydrate," on the other hand, means "remove," the same as it does in "defoliate" ("to strip of leaves") or in "deice" ("to rid of ice").

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mellifluous: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 4 is:

mellifluous \muh-LIFF-luh-wus\ adjective
*1 : having a smooth rich flow
2 : filled with something (as honey) that sweetens

Example sentence:
Lucy recognized the actor's mellifluous voice immediately from the many voice-overs he had done for commercials, station breaks, and documentaries.

Did you know?
In Latin, "mel" means "honey" and "fluere" means "to flow." Those two linguistic components flow smoothly together in Late Latin "mellifluus" and Middle English "mellyfluous," the ancestors of "mellifluous." Nowadays the adjective most often applies to the sound of words or speech or music-- as it has for centuries. In 1671, for example, poet John Milton wrote in _Paradise Regained_ of the "Wisest of men; from whose mouth issu'd forth / Mellifluous streams...." But "mellifluous" can also be used of flavor, as in the following rave from an article entitled "The Sublime Wine": "The first taste sensation is an electric sweetness that explodes within the mouth, but what emerges after swallowing is a mellifluous, lingering flavor...." (James Villas, _Town & Country_, December 1991)

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schwarmerei: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 3 is:

schwarmerei \shavair-muh-RYE\ noun
: excessive or unwholesome sentiment

Example sentence:
The poet's later works are refreshingly free of the schwarmerei that hobbled his earlier efforts.

Did you know?
In 1845, the editors of the _Edinburgh Review_ felt compelled to use the German "Schwarmerei" to describe fanatical enthusiasm because the concept seemed so foreign to them. In commenting on the writings of German critic and dramatist Gotthold Lessing, they declared "Schwarmerei" to be "untranslatable, because the thing itself is un-English." That German word derives from the verb "schwarmen," which means not only "to be enthusiastic" but "to swarm" (it was used to refer to bees), and its ancestors were part of Old High German. Ironically, the _Edinburgh Review's_ use (the first ever documented in an English publication) seems to have contributed to making the word much more English, and it has since become a naturalized citizen of our language.

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immaculate: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 2 is:

immaculate \ih-MAK-yuh-lut\ adjective
1 : having no stain or blemish : pure
2 : containing no flaw or error
3 *a : spotlessly clean b : having no colored spots or marks

Example sentence:
The Rileys expected to find that their teenagers had wreaked havoc in the house while they were gone, but they found the place immaculate and tidy.

Did you know?
The opposite of "immaculate" is "maculate," which means "marked with spots" or "impure." The Latin word "maculatus," the past participle of a verb meaning "to stain," is the source of both words and can be traced back to "macula," a word that scientists still use for spots on the skin, the wings of insects, and the surface of celestial objects. "Maculate" has not marked as many pages as "immaculate," but it has appeared occasionally (one might say "spottily"), especially as an antithesis to "immaculate." For example, in _The New Republic_, May 25, 1998, Victor Hugo's _Les Miserables_ is described as being "about the struggle of a mistreated man as he rises to the top, along with a mortal conflict between this maculate virtuous man and an immaculate pursuing demon."

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Rube Goldberg: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for July 21 is:

Rube Goldberg \ROOB-GOALD-berg\ adjective
: accomplishing by complex means what seemingly could be done simply; also : characterized by such complex means

Example sentence:
"We had to devise equipment constantly and have it jerry-built with Rube Goldberg contraptions." (Ralph Morse, _Air & Space Smithsonian_, June/July 1989)

Did you know?
Reuben Lucius Goldberg was a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist who satirized the technology of modern times. He was best known for his cartoons of complicated, ramshackle contraptions that performed simple tasks in ludicrously complex ways. His cartoon character Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts, for example, invented an automatic stamp licker. The contraption involved a robot that would dump a can of ants onto upturned stamps and a starving anteater that would then lick up the ants, moistening the stamps. Long before Goldberg died in 1970, his name had become associated with unnecessarily complicated contraptions and procedures.

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conquian : M-W's Word of the Day

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You may swim this summer, but is the past tense "swum" or
"swam?" Check out our Concise Dictionary of English Usage.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?conusg.htm&6
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The Word of the Day for July 25 is:

conquian \KONG-kee-un\ noun
: a card game for two played with 40 cards from which all games of rummy developed

Example sentence:
The friends whiled away a long summer day with endless games of conquian.

Did you know?
"Conquian" is an old card game, played more frequently in the past than it is now. It is based upon the "draw and discard" principle that forms the basis for all modern games of rummy and is played with 40 cards, setting aside certain cards of a 52-card deck. (The most common variations involve the removal of either all face cards, or the tens, nines, and eights.) The goal of the game is to form three or four of a kind, or sequences. "Conquian" comes to us from Mexican Spanish, but the word is ultimately derived from the Spanish "con quien?" meaning "with whom?"

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ad hoc: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 1 is:

ad hoc \AD-HOCK\ adjective
1 a : concerned with a particular end or purpose *b : formed or used for specific or immediate problems or needs
2 : fashioned from whatever is immediately available : improvised

Example sentence:
When her car broke down, Susannah managed an ad hoc repair that lasted long enough to get it to the mechanic's.

Did you know?
In Latin, "ad hoc" literally means "for this." That historical meaning is clearly reflected in contemporary English uses of "ad hoc" -- anything that is "ad hoc" can be thought of as existing "for this purpose only." For example, an "ad hoc committee" is generally authorized to look into a single matter of limited scope, not to pursue any interesting issue. "Ad hoc" can also be used as an adverb meaning "for the case at hand apart from other applications," as in "a commission created ad hoc." The adverb is older (it has been used in English since the mid-17th century), but the adjective is no quickly improvised addition to our language; it has been part of English since at least 1879.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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