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Word of the Day
petard
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - 9 hours 9 min ago
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 10, 2010 is:
petard • \puh-TAHRD\ • noun
1 : a case containing an explosive to break down a door or gate or breach a wall *2 : a firework that explodes with a loud report
Example sentence:
"The blast occurred on Sunday afternoon in a farmer's house in the Anhui Province, destroying six rooms which stored materials for making petards and firecrackers." (RIA Novosti, January 11, 2010)
Did you know?
Aside from historical references to siege warfare, and occasional contemporary references to fireworks, "petard" is almost always encountered in variations of the phrase "hoist with one's own petard," meaning "victimized or hurt by one's own scheme." The phrase comes from Shakespeare's Hamlet: "For 'tis the sport to have the enginer / Hoist with his own petar." "Hoist" in this case is the past participle of the verb "hoise," meaning "to lift or raise," and "petar(d)" refers to an explosive device used in siege warfare. Hamlet uses the example of the engineer (the person who sets the explosive device) being blown into the air by his own device as a metaphor for those who schemed against Hamlet being undone by their own schemes. The phrase has endured, even if its literal meaning has largely been forgotten.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
eclectic
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Tue, 03/09/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 09, 2010 is:
eclectic • \ih-KLEK-tik\ • adjective
1 : selecting what appears to be best in various doctrines, methods, or styles *2 : composed of elements drawn from various sources; also : heterogeneous
Example sentence:
The new downtown restaurant offers an eclectic mix of appetizers and entrees at reasonable prices.
Did you know?
"Eclectic" comes from a Greek verb meaning "to select" and was originally applied to ancient philosophers who were not committed to any single system of philosophy; instead, these philosophers selected whichever doctrines pleased them from every school of thought. Later, the word's use broadened to cover other selective natures. "Hard by, the central slab is thick with books / Diverse, but which the true eclectic mind / Knows how to group, and gather out of each / Their frequent wisdoms...." In this 19th century example from a poem by Arthur Joseph Munby, for example, the word is applied to literature lovers who cull selective works from libraries.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
lave
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Mon, 03/08/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 08, 2010 is:
lave • \LAYV\ • verb
1 a : wash, bathe* b : to flow along or against 2 : pour
Example sentence:
"There are few traces of man's hand to be seen. The water laves the shore as it did a thousand years ago." (Henry David Thoreau, Walden)
Did you know?
"Lave" is a simple, monosyllabic word that magically makes the mundane act of washing poetic. Shakespeare used it in The Taming of the Shrew, when Gremio assured the father of his beloved Bianca that she would have "basins and ewers to lave her dainty hands." And in Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop, Nell "laved her hands and face, and cooled her feet before setting forth to walk again." The poetry of "lave" is also heard when describing water washing against the shore, as in our example sentence, or even the pouring of water: "He … laved a few cool drops upon his brow" (John Lockhart, Reginald Dalton). Before washing our hands of "lave," we'll tell you its etymology: it, as well as "lavatory," comes from Latin "lavare," meaning "to wash."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
exponent
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Sun, 03/07/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 07, 2010 is:
exponent • \ik-SPOH-nunt\ • noun
1 : a symbol written above and to the right of a mathematical expression to indicate the operation of raising to a power 2 a : one that expounds or interprets* b : one that champions, practices, or exemplifies
Example sentence:
"Pianist [Chick] Corea has played plenty of straight-ahead jazz, but is probably best known as an exponent of '70s jazz-rock fusion." (Curtis Ross, The Tampa Tribune, February 19, 1999)
Did you know?
You probably won't be surprised to learn that "exponent" shares an ancestor with "proponent" -- and indeed, the Latin "ponere" ("to put") is at the root of both terms. "Exponent" descends from "exponere" ("to explain" or "to set forth"), which joins "ponere" with "ex-" ("out"). "Proponent" traces to "proponere" ("to display" or "to declare"), from "ponere" and "pro-" ("before"). "Proponent" can describe someone who offers a proposal (it's related to "propose," which also ultimately comes from "proponere"), but today it usually means "one who argues in favor of something." "Exponent" can also refer to someone who is an advocate, but it tends to refer especially to someone who stands out as a shining representative of something, and in addition it has retained its earlier meaning of "one who expounds."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
zaftig
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Sat, 03/06/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 06, 2010 is:
zaftig • \ZAHF-tig\ • adjective
: having a full rounded figure : pleasingly plump
Example sentence:
The Flemish painters were masters of the oil medium, rendering zaftig beauties, robust burghers, hunting scenes, and allegorical subjects with subtle interplays of light and color.
Did you know?
"Real women have curves," as a 2002 movie title proclaimed. They are pleasingly plump, full-figured, shapely, womanly, curvy, curvaceous, voluptuous, statuesque. They are, in a word, zaftig. "Zaftig" has been juicing up our language since the 1930s (the same decade that gave us Yiddish-derived "futz," "hoo-ha," "nosh," and "schmaltz," not to mention "lox"). It comes from the Yiddish "zaftik," which means "juicy" or "succulent" and which in turn derives from "zaft," meaning "juice" or "sap."
journeyman
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Fri, 03/05/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 05, 2010 is:
journeyman • \JER-nee-mun\ • noun
1 : a worker who has learned a trade and works for another person *2 : an experienced reliable worker, athlete, or performer
Example sentence:
The team is ready to trade three of its rookie hopefuls for the journeyman pitcher.
Did you know?
The "journey" in "journeyman" refers to a sense of this familiar word not often used anymore: "a day's labor." This sense of "journey" was first used in the 14th century. When "journeyman" appeared the following century, it originally referred to a person who, having learned a handicraft or trade through an apprenticeship, worked for daily wages. In the 16th century, "journeyman" picked up a figurative (and mainly deprecatory) sense; namely, "one who drudges for another." These days, however, "journeyman" has little to do with drudgery, and lots to do with knowing a trade inside out.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
licit
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Thu, 03/04/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 04, 2010 is:
licit • \LISS-it\ • adjective
: conforming to the requirements of the law : not forbidden by law : permissible
Example sentence:
"We are focusing on making government institutions more accountable and effective, promoting the rule of law, [and] stimulating licit economic activity, especially in agriculture." (Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, April 23, 2009)
Did you know?
"Licit" is far less common than its antonym "illicit," but you probably won’t be surprised to learn that the former is the older of the two. Not by much, though: the first known use of "licit" in print is from 1483, whereas "illicit" shows up in print for the first time in 1506. For some reason "illicit" took off while "licit" just plodded along. When "licit" appears these days it often modifies "drugs" or "crops." Meanwhile, "illicit" shows up before words like "thrill" and "passion" (as well as "gambling," "relationship," "activities," and, of course, "drugs" and "crops.") The Latin word "licitus," meaning "lawful," is the root of the pair; "licitus" itself is from "licēre," meaning "to be permitted."
transmogrify
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Wed, 03/03/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 03, 2010 is:
transmogrify • \transs-MAH-gruh-fye\ • verb
: to change or alter greatly and often with grotesque or humorous effect
Example sentence:
With the help of an interior decorator, Max transmogrified his drab, cluttered apartment into a stylish yet functional bachelor pad.
Did you know?
We know that the prefix "trans-" means "across" or "beyond" and appears in many words that evoke change, such as "transform" and "transpire," but we don't know the exact origins of "transmogrify." The 17th-century dramatist, novelist, and poet Aphra Behn, who is regarded as England's first female professional writer, was among the first English authors to use the word. In her 1671 comic play The Amorous Prince, Behn wrote, "I wou'd Love would transmogriphy me to a maid now." A century later, Scottish poet Robert Burns plied the word again in verse, aptly capturing the grotesque and sometimes humorous effect of transmogrification: "Social life and Glee sit down, . . . Till, quite transmugrify'd, they're grown Debauchery and Drinking."
didactic
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Tue, 03/02/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 02, 2010 is:
didactic • \dye-DAK-tik\ • adjective
1 a : designed or intended to teach* b : intended to convey instruction and information as well as pleasure and entertainment 2 : making moral observations
Example sentence:
Many of the shows on the channel are didactic, teaching children about such things as the importance of recycling, exercise, and honesty through the actions of animated characters.
Did you know?
"Didaktikos" is a Greek word that means "apt at teaching." It comes from "didaskein," meaning "to teach." Something "didactic" does just that: teaches or instructs. "Didactic" conveyed that neutral meaning when it was first borrowed in the 17th century, and still does; a didactic piece of writing is one that is meant to be instructive as well as artistic. Parables are generally didactic because they aim to teach a moral lesson. "Didactic" now sometimes has negative connotations, too, however. Something "didactic" is often overburdened with instruction to the point of being dull. Or it might be pompously instructive or moralistic.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
asterisk
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Mon, 03/01/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 01, 2010 is:
asterisk • \ASS-tuh-risk\ • noun
: the character * used in printing or writing as a reference mark, as an indication of the omission of letters or words, to denote a hypothetical or unattested linguistic form, or for various arbitrary meanings
Example sentence:
Words in the text that are defined in the glossary are marked with an asterisk for quick reference.
Did you know?
If someone asked you to associate the word "asterisk" with a heavenly body, you would probably have no problem relating it to a star -- even if you didn't know that the word "asterisk" derives from "asteriskos," a Greek word meaning "little star." "Asterisk" has been a part of the constellation of English since at least the late 1300s, but it is far from the only shining star in our language. The Greek forms "astēr," "astro," and "astrum" (all of which mean "star") still cast their light in English by way of such words as "asteroid," "astral," and "disaster" (which originally meant "an unfavorable aspect of a planet or star"). Even "star" itself is a distant relative of "asterisk."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
waggish
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Sun, 02/28/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 28, 2010 is:
waggish • \WAG-ish\ • adjective
*1 : resembling or characteristic of a wag : displaying good-humored mischief 2 : done or made for sport : humorous
Example sentence:
Lisa listens to the same waggish DJ every morning, never tiring of his prank phone calls and irreverent impressions of local politicians.
Did you know?
One who is waggish acts like a wag. What, then, is a wag? Etymologists think "wag" probably came from "waghalter," a word that was once used for a "gallows bird" (that is, a person who was going to be, or deserved to be, hanged). "Waghalter" was apparently shortened to "wag" and used jokingly or affectionately for mischievous pranksters or youths. Hence a wag is a joker, and waggery is merriment or practical joking. "Waggish" can describe the prank itself as well as the prankster type; the class clown might be said to have a "waggish disposition" or might be said to be prone to "waggish antics."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
apex
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Sat, 02/27/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 27, 2010 is:
apex • \AY-peks\ • noun
: the highest point : peak
Example sentence:
Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, the first people to climb to the summit of Mt. Everest, reached the apex of the great mountain at 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953.
Did you know?
"Apex" entered English from Latin, where it originally meant "a small rod at the top of a flamen's cap." What's a flamen's cap? Flamens were priests who devoted themselves to serving just one of the many ancient Roman gods (for instance, just Jupiter or Mars). Those priests wore distinctive conical caps that English speakers dubbed "flamen's caps." Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century dramatist Ben Jonson was one of the few English writers known to have used "apex" in its flamen's-cap sense: "Upon his head a hat of delicate wool, whose top ended in a cone, and was thence called apex."
thew
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Fri, 02/26/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 26, 2010 is:
thew • \THOO\ • noun
1 a : muscular power or development b : strength, vitality *2 : muscle, sinew -- usually used in plural
Example sentence:
"Care I for the limb, the thews, the stature, bulk, and big / assemblance of a man! Give me the spirit," retorts Falstaff to Justice Shallow in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 2.
Did you know?
"Thew" has had a long, difficult past during which it discovered its strengths and weaknesses. In Middle English it carried a number of meanings, referring to a custom, habit, personal quality, or virtue. The word began to tire in the 16th century but was soon revitalized with a new meaning: it began to be used specifically for the quality of physical strength and later for the muscles demonstrating that quality. In time, the word buddied up with "sinew" in both literal and figurative turns of phrase, as in "the thews and sinews of my body ached" and "their love affair was the thew and sinew of the story."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
proscribe
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Thu, 02/25/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 25, 2010 is:
proscribe • \proh-SCRYBE\ • verb
1 : outlaw *2 : to condemn or forbid as harmful or unlawful
Example sentence:
When grammarians began to proscribe ending a sentence with a preposition in the 1700s, one astute personage noted that it is "an idiom which our language is strongly inclined to."
Did you know?
"Proscribe" and "prescribe" each have a Latin-derived prefix that means "before" attached to the verb "scribe" (from "scribere," meaning "to write"). Yet the two words have very distinct, often nearly opposite meanings. Why? In a way, you could say it's the law. In the 15th and 16th centuries both words had legal implications. To "proscribe" was to publish the name of a person who had been condemned, outlawed, or banished. To "prescribe" meant "to lay down a rule," including legal rules or orders.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
abrupt
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Wed, 02/24/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 24, 2010 is:
abrupt • \uh-BRUPT\ • adjective
1 a : characterized by or involving action or change without preparation or warning : unexpected* b : unceremoniously curt c : lacking smoothness or continuity 2 : giving the impression of being cut or broken off; especially : involving a sudden steep rise or drop
Example sentence:
Although Kevin liked working at the auto dealership, his abrupt manner of speaking made him a poor match for a job in customer service.
Did you know?
We’ll break it to you gently: "abrupt" derives from "abruptus," the past participle of the Latin verb "abrumpere," meaning "to break off." "Abrumpere" combines the prefix "ab-" with "rumpere," which means "break" and which forms the basis for several other words in English that suggest a kind of breaking, such as "interrupt," "rupture," and "bankrupt." Whether being used to describe a style of speaking that seems rudely short (as in "gave an abrupt answer"), something with a severe rise or drop ("abrupt climate change"), or something that seems rash and unprecipitated ("made the abrupt decision to quit college"), "abrupt," which first appeared in English in the 16th century, implies a kind of jarring unexpectedness that catches people off guard.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
logomachy
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Tue, 02/23/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 23, 2010 is:
logomachy • \loh-GAH-muh-kee\ • noun
1 : a dispute over or about words *2 : a controversy marked by verbiage
Example sentence:
The surprising election results have opened the floodgates of logomachy in the political media outlets.
Did you know?
It doesn't take much to start people arguing about words, but there's no quarrel about the origin of "logomachy." It comes from the Greek roots "logos," meaning "word" or "speech," and "machesthai," meaning "to fight," and it entered English in the mid-1500s. If you're a word enthusiast, you probably know that "logos" is the root of many English words ("monologue," "neologism," "logic," and most words ending in "-logy," for example), but what about other derivatives of "machesthai"? Actually, this is a tough one even for word whizzes. Only a few very rare English words come from "machesthai." Here are two of them: "heresimach" ("an active opponent of heresy and heretics") and "naumachia" ("an ancient Roman spectacle representing a naval battle").
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
thaumaturgy
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Mon, 02/22/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 22, 2010 is:
thaumaturgy • \THAW-muh-ter-jee\ • noun
: the performance of miracles; specifically : magic
Example sentence:
After reading all seven Harry Potter novels in a span of two weeks, Audrey was hungry for more thrilling tales of mysticism and thaumaturgy.
Did you know?
The magic of "thaumaturgy" is miraculous. The word, from a Greek word meaning "miracle working," is applicable to any performance of miracles, especially by incantation. It can also be used of things that merely seem miraculous and unexplainable, like the thaumaturgy of a motion picture's illusions (aka "movie magic"), or the thaumaturgy at work in an athletic team's "miracle" comeback. In addition to "thaumaturgy," we also have "thaumaturge" and "thaumaturgist," both of which mean "a performer of miracles" or "a magician," and the adjective "thaumaturgic," meaning "performing miracles" or "of, relating to, or dependent on thaumaturgy."
chastise
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Sun, 02/21/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 21, 2010 is:
chastise • \chass-TYZE\ • verb
1 : to inflict punishment on (as by whipping) *2 : to censure severely : castigate
Example sentence:
The boss eventually had to chastise certain employees for being consistently late.
Did you know?
"Chastise," "castigate," "chasten," "correct," "discipline," and "punish" all imply the infliction of a penalty in return for wrongdoing. "Chastise" often applies to verbal censure or denunciation ("he chastised his son for neglecting his studies"). "Castigate" usually implies a severe, typically public censure ("an editorial castigating the entire city council"), while "chasten" suggests any affliction or trial that leaves someone humbled or subdued ("chastened by a landslide election defeat"). "Correct" implies punishment aimed at reforming an offender ("the function of prison is to correct the wrongdoer"), and "discipline," a punishment or chastisement intended to bring a wrongdoer under control ("parents disciplining their children"). Finally, "punish" implies the imposition of a penalty for a misdeed ("punished for stealing").
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
saxicolous
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Sat, 02/20/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 20, 2010 is:
saxicolous • \sak-SIK-uh-lus\ • adjective
: inhabiting or growing among rocks
Example sentence:
As a graduate student, Pam studied saxicolous lichens above the treeline in three different parts of the Canadian Rockies.
Did you know?
"Saxicolous." It's not a word that exactly rolls off the tongue, but it's a useful designation for botanists. The word is from Latin, naturally. "Saxum" is Latin for "rock," and "colous" (meaning "living or growing in or on") traces back to Latin "-cola" meaning "inhabitant." Other "colous" offspring include "arenicolous" ("living, burrowing, or growing in sand"), "cavernicolous" ("inhabiting caves"), and "nidicolous" ("living in a nest" or "sharing the nest of another kind of animal"). All of these words were coined in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to describe the flora and fauna of our world.
inane
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day - Fri, 02/19/2010 - 01:15
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 19, 2010 is:
inane • \ih-NAYN\ • noun
: void or empty space
Example sentence:
"And thus likewise we sometimes speak of place, distance, or bulk in the great inane beyond the confines of the world …" (John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding)
Did you know?
The adjective "inane" is now most commonly encountered as a synonym of "shallow" or "silly." But when this word first entered the English language in the early 17th century, it was used to mean "empty" or "insubstantial." It was this older sense that gave rise, in the latter half of the 17th century, to the noun "inane," which often serves as a poetic reference to the void of space ("the illimitable inane," "the limitless inane," "the incomprehensible inane"). This noun usage has not always been viewed in a favorable light. Samuel Johnson, in his Dictionary of the English Language (1755), says of "inane" that "it is used licentiously for a substantive," which in current English means that it is used as a noun without regard to the rules.
