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Tuesday, October 31, 2006

prescind: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 31 is:

prescind \pri-SIND\ verb
*1 intransitive verb : to withdraw one's attention
2 transitive verb : to detach for purposes of thought

Example sentence:
If we prescind from the main issue for a moment, there is much to be gained by studying some corollary questions.

Did you know?
"Prescind" derives from the Latin verb "praescindere," which means "to cut off in front." "Praescindere," in turn, was formed by combining "prae-" ("before") and "scindere" ("to cut" or "to split"). So it should come as no surprise that when "prescind" began being used during the 17th century, it referred to "cutting off" one's attention from a subject. An earlier (now archaic) sense was even clearer about the etymological origins of the word, with the meaning "to cut short, off, or away" or "to sever." Other descendants of "scindere" include "rescind" and the rare "scissile" ("capable of being cut").

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Monday, October 30, 2006

officious: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 30 is:

officious \uh-FISH-us\ adjective
*1 : volunteering one's services where they are neither asked nor needed : meddlesome
2 : informal, unofficial

Example sentence:
Jane wanted to help her neighbors, but she was hesitant to offer assistance for fear of being perceived as officious.

Did you know?
Don't mistake "officious" for a rare synonym of "official." Both words stem from the Latin noun "officium" (meaning "service" or "office"), but they have very different meanings. When the suffix "-osus" ("full of") was added to "officium," Latin "officiosus" came into being, meaning "eager to serve, help, or perform a duty." When this adjective was borrowed into English in the 16th century as "officious," it carried the same meaning. Early in the 17th century, however, "officious" began taking on a negative sense to describe a person who offers unwanted help. This pejorative sense has driven out the original "eager to help" sense to become the predominant meaning of the word in Modern English. "Officious" can also mean "of an informal or unauthorized nature," but that sense isn't especially common.

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Sunday, October 29, 2006

bonnyclabber: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 29 is:

bonnyclabber \BAH-nee-klab-er\ noun
: sour milk that has been thickened or curdled

Example sentence:
When Grandma was a little girl, one of her jobs was to feed the bonnyclabber to the chickens.

Did you know?
In Irish Gaelic, "bainne clabair" means "thickened milk." In English, the equivalent word is "bonnyclabber." Whether or not this bonnyclabber is "the bravest, freshest drink you ever tasted" (as the English Earl of Strafford enthused in 1635) or "would make a hungry parson caper" (to quote English poet Thomas Ward in 1716), it has been a part of country folks' diets for many a year. Today, you might see "bonnyclabber" as a recommended substitute for buttermilk in a recipe for Irish soda bread (complete with directions for making your own bonnyclabber). The American version of bonnyclabber, brought to U.S. shores by Scots-Irish immigrants, often goes one step further in the thickening process, to produce something more akin to cottage cheese.

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Saturday, October 28, 2006

unregenerate: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 28 is:

unregenerate \un-rih-JEN-uh-rut\ adjective
1 : not spiritually reborn or converted
2 a : not reformed : unreconstructed *b : obstinate, stubborn

Example sentence:
Despite pleadings from his friends, Shane remained unregenerate about his decision.

Did you know?
There was a time when the adjective "regenerate" had more to do with being spiritually reborn than with being physically re-created; in the 16th century, "regenerate" was used of someone spiritually reborn. By the late 1500s, English speakers had added "un-" to "regenerate" to describe someone who refused to accept spiritual reformation. Since then, "unregenerate" has taken on a life of its own, gaining the extended specific meanings of "unconverted to a particular doctrinaire viewpoint," "persisting in a reactionary stand," or just plain "stubborn." Both "regenerate" and "unregenerate" trace back to the Latin "genus," meaning "birth" or "descent."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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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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Friday, October 27, 2006

specious: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 26 is:

specious \SPEE-shuss\ adjective
1 : having deceptive attraction or allure
*2 : having a false look of truth or genuineness : sophistic

Example sentence:
From the get-go Shelly felt that Clark's claim was specious, but he insisted he was telling the truth and she couldn't at first prove otherwise.

Did you know?
"Appearances can be deceptive." "Things are not always as they seem." Like these familiar proverbs, the word "specious" attests that English speakers can be a skeptical lot when it comes to trusting outward appearances. "Specious" traces to the Latin word "speciosus," meaning "beautiful" or "plausible," and Middle English speakers used it to mean "visually pleasing." But by the 17th century, "specious" had begun to suggest an attractiveness that was superficial or deceptive, and, subsequently, the word's neutral "pleasing" sense faded into obsolescence.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Thursday, October 26, 2006

coup de grace: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 25 is:

coup de grace \koo-duh-GRAHSS\ noun
1 : a deathblow or death shot administered to end the suffering of one mortally wounded
*2 : a decisive finishing blow, act, or event

Example sentence:
Paul's team led throughout the game, but the coup de grace was his three-run homer in the eighth inning.

Did you know?
Borrowed directly from French and first appearing in English at the end of the 17th century, "coup de grace" (literally, a "stroke of grace" or "blow of mercy") originally referred to a mercy killing, or the act of putting to death a person or animal who was severely injured and unlikely to recover. (In some contexts the term is used to refer to the final act of executing a convicted criminal.) Less than fifty years later, "coup de grace" had come to mean "an act or event that puts a definite end to something." Other "coup" terms that have made the jump from French to English include "coup de main," for a sudden, forceful attack, and "coup d'etat" for a violent overthrow of a government usually by a small group.

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Tuesday, October 24, 2006

zoomorphic: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 24 is:

zoomorphic \zoh-uh-MOR-fik\ adjective
*1 : having the form of an animal
2 : of, relating to, or being a deity conceived of in animal form or with animal attributes

Example sentence:
Sid's costume was going to be a pumpkin, but he changed it to a hippopatumus when he decided it looked more zoomorphic than vegetal.

Did you know?
"Zoo-" (or "zo-") derives from the Greek word "zoion," meaning "animal," and "-morph" comes from the Greek "morphe," meaning "form." These two forms combined to give us the adjective "zoomorphic," which was first used in English to describe something that resembles an animal in 1872. English includes other words that were formed from "zoo-" or "zo-," such as "zoology" (made with "-logy," meaning "science"). We also have other words that were formed from "-morph," such as "pseudomorph," for a mineral having the outward form of another species. (The combining form "pseud-" or "pseudo-" means "false.")

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Monday, October 23, 2006

patina: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 23 is:

patina \puh-TEE-nuh\ noun
1 : a green film formed on copper and bronze by exposure to moist air b : a surface appearance of something grown beautiful especially with age or use
*2 : an appearance or aura that is derived from association, habit, or established character
3 : a superficial covering or exterior

Example sentence:
The weather-beaten inns and storefronts along the seaside give the area the patina of a Colonial whaling village.

Did you know?
Italians began using "patina" in the 17th century to refer to the green film that is produced on the surface of copper. They borrowed the word from Latin, where it means "a shallow dish." (Presumably, the Italian meaning developed from the observation of such film forming on copper dishes.) By the mid-18th century, English speakers were also calling the green film "patina." And by the early 20th century, "patina" was being used in English for the gloss of polished metals, like silver, as well as wooden furniture -- a meaning that led to its literary use for a surrounding aura, as demonstrated in this quote from Stella Gibbons' _Cold Comfort Farm_ (1932): "The very atmosphere seemed covered with a rich patina of love."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Sunday, October 22, 2006

weltschmerz: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 22 is:

weltschmerz \VELT-shmairts\ noun, often capitalized
*1 : a mental depression or apathy caused by comparison of the actual state of the world with an ideal state
2 : a mood of sentimental sadness

Example sentence:
The early lyrical works of Austrian poet Nikolaus Lenau express the weltschmerz of the Romantic period.

Did you know?
The word "weltschmerz" initially came into being as a by-product of the Romanticism movement in Europe of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The poets of the Romantic era were a notably gloomy bunch, unwilling or unable to adjust to those realities of the world that they perceived as threatening their right to personal freedom. "Weltschmerz," which was formed by combining the German words for "world" ("Welt") and "pain" ("Schmerz"), aptly captures the melancholy and pessimism that often characterized the artistic expressions of the era. The term was coined in German by the Romantic author Jean Paul (pseudonym of Johann Paul Friedrich Richter) in his 1827 novel _Selina_, but it wasn't adopted into English until nearly 50 years later.

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Saturday, October 21, 2006

debouch: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 21 is:

debouch \dih-BOUTCH\ verb
1 : to cause to emerge : discharge
*2 : to march out into open ground : emerge, issue

Example sentence:
At their commander's signal, the soldiers debouched from the jungle into the dangerous open terrain.

Did you know?
"Debouch" first appeared in English in the 18th century. It derives from a French verb formed from the prefix "de-" ("from") and the noun "bouche" ("mouth"), which itself derives ultimately from the Latin "bucca" ("cheek"). "Debouch" is often used in military contexts to refer to the action of troops proceeding from a closed space to an open one. It is also used frequently to refer to the emergence of anything from a mouth, such as water passing through the mouth of a river into an ocean. The word's ancestors have also given us the adjective "buccal" ("of or relating to the mouth") and the noun "embouchure" (the mouthpiece of a musical instrument or the position of the mouth when playing one).

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Friday, October 20, 2006

sotto voce: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 20 is

sotto voce \sah-toh-VOH-chee\ adjective or adverb
*1 : under the breath : in an undertone; also : in a private manner
2 : very softly -- used as a direction in music

Example sentence:
After Hal got up from the table, Marie told me, sotto voce, about the surprise party she was planning for him.

Did you know?
It's no secret: in our example sentence, "sotto voce" functions as an adverb, modifying the past-tense verb "told." But "sotto voce," which was borrowed into English from the Italian word "sottovoce" (literally meaning "under the voice"), can also serve as an adjective. That's the role it plays in the following sentence: "Marie told me about the party in a sotto voce whisper." The adverb sense first appeared in English in the 18th century and soon afterward found use in musical directions calling for whispered vocals. The adjective sense came about in the early 19th century.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Thursday, October 19, 2006

propaedeutic: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 19 is:

propaedeutic \proh-pih-DOO-tik\ noun
: preparatory study or instruction

Example sentence:
"Families in state programs that stressed immediate work earned ... more per year than families in states that emphasized job training or education as a propaedeutic to work." (Richard Nadler, _National Review_, November 6, 2000)

Did you know?
You don't have to be a walking encyclopedia to use it, but "propaedeutic" does tend to occur mostly in scholarly discussions of learning and education. "I take thinking not to be a source of any moral code or set of ethical principles but a propaedeutic, a preparation for discernment and indeterminate judgment," wrote Dr. Elizabeth Minnich, for example, in _Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning_. "Propaedeutic" might be a "hard" word, but one easy thing to remember about it is that it is closely related to "encyclopedia." "Encyclopedia" is from Greek "paideia," meaning "education," plus "enkyklios," meaning "general." "Propaedeutic" is from Greek "paideuein," meaning "to teach," plus "pro-," which means "before." "Paideia" and "paideuein" both spring from the root "paid-," which means "child."

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Wednesday, October 18, 2006

chaussure: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 18 is:

chaussure \shoh-SEWR\ noun
*1 : footgear
2 plural : shoes

Example sentence:
"'I delight in Hessian boots,' said Rebecca. Jos Sedley, who admired his own legs prodigiously, and always wore this ornamental chaussure, was extremely pleased at this remark...." (William Makepeace Thackeray, _Vanity Fair_)

Did you know?
What could shoes possibly have in common with a food item made of pizza dough stuffed with cheese and other fillings? Etymologically, quite a bit. Retrace the footprints of both "chaussure" and "calzone" (a word that, like the tasty turnover itself, comes from Italy) and you'll arrive at the Latin word "calceus," meaning "shoe." "Calzone" is the singular of "calzoni," which means "pants" (someone must have seen a similarity between the food and the clothing item). "Calzoni" in turn comes from "calza," which means "stocking" and descends ultimately from the Latin "calceus." "Chaussure" made its way to English via Anglo-French rather than Italian (and goes back to an Old French verb meaning "to put on footwear"), but it too can be traced to "calceus."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Tuesday, October 17, 2006

verdant: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 17 is:

verdant \VER-dunt\ adjective
1 a : green in tint or color *b : green with growing plants
2 : unripe in experience or judgment : green

Example sentence:
"The green, leafy concert site is nestled between the winery's handsome French chateau and its verdant, sculptured gardens...." (Patrick Macdonald, _The Seattle Times_, September 1, 2006)

Did you know?
English speakers have been using "verdant" as a ripe synonym of "green" since the late 16th century, and as a descriptive term for inexperienced or naive people since the 1820s. (By contrast, the more experienced "green" has colored our language since well before the 12th century, and was first applied to inexperienced people in the 1540s.) "Verdant" is derived from the Old French word for "green," "vert," which in turn is from Latin "virere," meaning "to be green." Today, "vert" is used in English as a word for green forest vegetation and the heraldic color green. Another descendant of "virere" is the adjective "virescent," meaning "beginning to be green."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Monday, October 16, 2006

antonomasia: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 16 is:

antonomasia \an-tuh-noh-MAY-zhuh\ noun
: the use of a proper name to designate a member of a class (as a Solomon for a wise ruler); also : the use of an epithet or title in place of a proper name (as the Bard for Shakespeare)

Example sentence:
"It's antonomasia when you refer to the mayor as His Honor or to Babe Ruth as the Sultan of Swat." (Michael Gartner, _Newsday_ [New York], July 3, 1988)

Did you know?
What's in a name? When it comes to "antonomasia," quite a bit. English speakers picked up that appellative term from Latin, but it traces back to Greek, descending from the verb "antonomazein," meaning "to call by a new name," which itself developed from the Greek noun "onoma," meaning "name." You may already be familiar with some other English "onoma" descendants, such as "onomatopoeia" (the naming of something in imitation of the sound associated with it), "polyonymous" (having multiple names), and "toponymy" (the place-names of a region). "Antonomasia" has been naming names in English since the mid-16th century.

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Sunday, October 15, 2006

bowdlerize: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 15 is:

bowdlerize \BOUD-ler-ize\ verb
1 : to expurgate by omitting or modifying parts considered vulgar
*2 : to modify by abridging, simplifying, or distorting in style or content

Example sentence:
The new regime bowdlerized history books, deleting all mention of the leaders of the resistance.

Did you know?
Few editors have achieved the notoriety of Thomas Bowdler. Bowdler was trained as a physician, but when illness prevented him from practicing medicine, he turned to warning Europeans about unsanitary conditions at French watering places. He then carried his quest for purification to literature, and in 1818 he published his _Family Shakspeare_ [sic], a work in which he promised that "those words and expressions are omitted which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family." The sanitized volume was popular with the public of the day, but literary critics denounced his modifications of the words of the Bard. Bowdler applied his literary eraser broadly, and within 11 years of his death in 1825, the word "bowdlerize" was being used to refer to expurgating books or other texts.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Saturday, October 14, 2006

syncretic: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 14 is:

syncretic \sin-KRET-ik\ adjective
: characterized or brought about by the combination of different forms of belief or practice

Example sentence:
Dr. Portman practices a syncretic form of medicine, borrowing from both Eastern and Western medical traditions.

Did you know?
"Syncretic" has its roots in an ancient alliance. It's a descendant of the Greek word "synkretismos," meaning "federation of Cretan cities" -- "syn-" means "together, with," and "Kret-" means "Cretan." The adjective first appeared in English in the mid-19th century, and the related noun "syncretism" debuted over 200 years earlier. "Syncretic" retains the idea of coalition and appears in such contexts as "syncretic religions," "syncretic societies," and even "syncretic music," all describing things influenced by two or more styles or traditions. The word also has a specific application in linguistics, where it refers to a fusion of grammatical forms.

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Friday, October 13, 2006

huckster: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 13 is:

huckster \HUCK-ster\ noun
*1 : hawker, peddler
2 : one who produces promotional material for commercial clients especially for radio or television

Example sentence:
It was said that Martin was such a clever huckster that he could even sell snow shovels to sunbathers in the summertime.

Did you know?
Hawkers, peddlers, and hucksters have been selling things out of the back of wagons, in narrow alleys, and on the fringes of towns for years (though nowadays, they're more likely to plug their wares on television or the Internet). Of those three words -- "hawker," "peddler," or "huckster" -- the one that has been around the longest in English is "huckster." It has been with us for over 800 years, and it derives from the Middle Dutch word "hokester," which in turn comes from the verb "hoeken," meaning "to peddle." "Peddler" (or "pedlar") was first attested in the 14th century, and this sense of "hawker" has only been appearing in English texts since the early 1500s.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Thursday, October 12, 2006

gnomic: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 12 is:

gnomic \NOH-mik\ adjective
*1 : characterized by aphorism
2 : given to the composition of aphoristic writing

Example sentence:
The poet Emily Dickinson, who wrote "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant," is known for her highly individualistic, gnomic style.

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 "gnome" on the verb "gignoskein," 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.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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protocol: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 11 is:

protocol \PROH-tuh-kawl\ noun
1 : an original record of a document or transaction : memorandum
*2 : a code of strict adherence to correct etiquette and precedence
3 : a convention for formatting electronic data

Example sentence:
Ed?s actions constituted a severe breach of military protocol.

Did you know?
In Late Greek, the word "protokollon" referred to the first sheet of a papyrus roll bearing the date of its manufacture. In some instances, it consisted of a flyleaf that was glued to the outside of a manuscript's case and provided a description of its contents. Coming from the Greek prefix "proto-" ("first") and the noun "kolla" ("glue"), "protokollon" gave us our word "protocol," which in its original English sense (dating from the 16th century) referred to a record of a document or transaction. In the late 19th century, it began to be used in reference to the etiquette observed by the Head of State of France in ceremonies and relations with other dignitaries. This sense has since extended in meaning to cover any code of proper conduct.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Tuesday, October 10, 2006

recusant: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 10 is:

recusant \REK-yuh-zunt\ adjective
: refusing to submit to authority

Example sentence:
Several recusant senators refused to vote along party lines.

Did you know?
In 1534, Henry VIII of England declared himself the head of the Church of England, separating it from the Roman Catholic Church, and the resultant furor led to increased attention focused on people's religious observances. A "recusant" was someone who (from about 1570-1791) refused to attend services of the Church of England, and therefore violated the laws of mandatory church attendance. The word derives from the Latin verb "recusare," meaning "reject" or "oppose." The adjective "recusant" has been in use since the early 17th century. Originally, it meant "refusing to attend the services of the Church of England," but by the century's end, both the adjective and the noun were also being used generally to suggest resistance to authority of any form.

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Monday, October 09, 2006

antipode: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 9 is:

antipode \AN-tuh-pohd\ noun
1: the parts of the earth diametrically opposite -- usually used in plural
*2 : the exact opposite or contrary

Example sentence:
"The 12 USFL teams will play every week from March 6 to July 3, the antipode of the NFL season...." (Geoffrey Colvin, _Fortune_, March 21, 1983)

Did you know?
We borrowed the word "antipode" over 600 years ago. It first appeared in a translation of a Latin text as a word designating "men that have their feet against our feet," that is, inhabitants of the opposite side of the globe. The word, which originated in Greek, combines "anti-," meaning "opposite," with the root "pod-," meaning "foot." "Antipode" is no longer used in English as a designation for people, but the notion of the other side of the globe lives on in its current geographical sense. We have come to use the plural term "antipodes" (pronounced \an-TIH-puh-deez\) to refer to Australia and New Zealand because they are on the other side of the earth from Britain.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Sunday, October 08, 2006

furtive: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 8 is:

furtive \FER-tiv\ adjective
*1 a : done by stealth : surreptitious b : expressive of stealth : sly
2 : obtained underhandedly : stolen

Example sentence:
When Teresa asked who had left the surprise on her desk, Patrick and I exchanged furtive glances across the room.

Did you know?
"Furtive" has a shadowy history. It may have slipped into English directly from Latin or it may have covered its tracks by arriving via French. (The French "furtif" derived from the Latin "furtivus.") But however "furtive" got into English, the Latin word "fur," meaning "thief," is at the root. "Fur" is related to, and may come from, the Greek "phor," which also means "thief." When first used in English in the early 17th century, "furtive" carried a meaning of "done in a way so as not to be seen," though later it also came to mean, less commonly, "stolen." Whichever meaning you choose, the elusive ancestry of "furtive" is particularly fitting, since a thief must be furtive to avoid getting caught in the act!

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Saturday, October 07, 2006

ingurgitate: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 7 is:

ingurgitate \in-GUR-juh-tayt\ verb
: to swallow greedily or in large quantities : guzzle

Example sentence:
The kids were so hungry after the ball game that they ingurgitated their fries before I even finished squeezing the ketchup on mine.

Did you know?
Most people are familiar with "regurgitate" as a fancy synonym for "throw up," but far fewer know of its rarer antonym "ingurgitate." It's a word as likely to turn up in a spelling bee as in a conversation, but it does see occasional use, both literal (as in "ingurgitating red wine") and figurative (as in "ingurgitating artwork"). "Regurgitate" and "ingurgitate" (as well as "gurgitate," an even rarer synonym of "ingurgitate," and "gorge," meaning "to eat greedily") can be ultimately traced back to the Latin word for "whirlpool," which is "gurges."

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Friday, October 06, 2006

techno-thriller: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 6 is:

techno-thriller \TEK-noh-thrill-er\ noun
: a work of fiction having a high degree of intrigue, adventure, or suspense and a plot that relies on modern technology

Example sentence:
The techno-thriller's protagonist, equipped with an arsenal of futuristic weapons, must prevent a terrorist group's strike on the nation's capital.

Did you know?
"Techno-thriller" owes a lot to technology. Not only do fictional techno-thrillers include a lot of technology in their plots, the word itself includes the combining form "techno-," which derives from the word "technology." The artistic and literary genre is relatively new and so is the word that describes it; the first documented use of "techno-thriller" dates from 1986.

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Thursday, October 05, 2006

farceur: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 5 is:

farceur \far-SUR\ noun
1 : joker, wag
*2 : a writer or actor of farce

Example sentence:
The movie features a famous farceur trying his hand at a serious role for the first time.

Did you know?
You've probably already spotted the "farce" in "farceur." But although "farceur" can now refer to someone who performs or composes farce, it began life in the late 18th century as a word for someone who is simply known for cracking jokes. Appropriately, "farceur" derives via Modern French from the Middle French "farcer," meaning "to joke." If you think of "farce" as a composition of ridiculous humor with a "stuffed" or contrived plot, then it should not surprise you that "farce" originally meant "forcemeat" -- seasoned meat used for a stuffing -- and that both "farce" and "farceur" can be ultimately traced back to the Latin verb "farcire," meaning "to stuff."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Wednesday, October 04, 2006

nocuous: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 4 is:

nocuous \NAH-kyuh-wus\ adjective
: harmful

Example sentence:
"Poorly tuned engines can put out up to 800 times the nocuous emissions of properly maintained ones." (PR Newswire, January 7, 1992)

Did you know?
You are probably more familiar with the adjective "innocuous," meaning "harmless," than with its antonymous relative "nocuous." Both "nocuous" and "innocuous" have immediate Latin predecessors: "nocuus" and "innocuus." (The latter combines "nocuus" with the negative prefix "in-.") Both words can also be traced back to the Latin verb "nocere," meaning "to harm." Other "nocere" descendants in English include "innocent" and "nocent," which means "harmful." "Nuisance" (which originally meant, and still can mean, "a harm or injury") is a more distant relative. "Nocuous" is one of the less common "nocere" descendants, but it does turn up occasionally.

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Tuesday, October 03, 2006

majuscule: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 3 is:

majuscule \MAJ-uh-skyool\ noun
: a large letter (as a capital)

Example sentence:
I can always recognize my brother's handwriting at a quick glance based on how elaborately the majuscules are formed and how they dwarf the other letters.

Did you know?
"Majuscule" looks like the complement to "minuscule," and the resemblance is no coincidence. "Minuscule" appeared in the early 18th century as a word for a lowercase letter, then later as the word for certain ancient and medieval writing styles which had "small forms." "Minuscule" then acquired a more general adjectival use for anything very small. "Majuscule" is the counterpart to "minuscule" when it comes to letters, but it never developed a broader sense (despite the fact that its Latin ancestor "majusculus" has the broad meaning "rather large"). The adjective "majuscule" also exists (as does "majuscular"). Not surprisingly, the adjective shares the noun's specificity, referring only to large letters or to a style using such letters.

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ergonomic: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 2 is:

ergonomic \er-guh-NAH-mik\ adjective
1 : of or relating to the science of designing and arranging things people use so that the people and things interact most efficiently and safely
*2 : designed or arranged for safe, comfortable, and efficient use

Example sentence:
The hotel's Web site boasts that each room has a work desk with high speed internet access and an ergonomic chair.

Did you know?
In 1969, a British publication assured the public that, although the word "ergonomics" looks forbidding, "all it means is the science of making things fit people, instead of asking people to fit things." Ergonomic design as a field of study originated in the 19th century when a Polish author, Wojciech Jastrzebowski, wrote an article about the relation between human activity and the methods used to accomplish that activity. In the article, written in his native Polish, Jastrzebowski coined the word "ergonomji," an efficient combination of the Greek "ergo-," meaning "work," and "nomos," meaning "law." British scientist K.F.H. Murrell is credited with creating the English word "ergonomics" in 1949, applying the "-nomics" ending to "ergo-" in imitation of "economics."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Monday, October 02, 2006

vernissage: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 1 is:

vernissage \vair-nih-SAHZH\ noun
: a private showing or preview of an art exhibition

Example sentence:
Before the art auction, there will be a vernissage during which people can mingle with the artists and preview their work.

Did you know?
"Vernissage" has its roots in the old practice of setting aside a day before an exhibition's opening for artists to varnish and put finishing touches to their paintings -- a tradition that reportedly dates to at least 1809, when it was instituted by England's Royal Academy of Arts. (One famous member of the Academy, Joseph Mallord William Turner, was notorious for making major changes to his paintings on this day.) English speakers originally referred to this day of finishing touches simply as "varnishing day," but sometime around 1912 we also began using the French term "vernissage" (literally, "varnishing"). Today, however, you are more likely to encounter vino than varnish at a vernissage, which is often a gala event marking the opening of an exhibition.

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