Aphotic

Word of the Day for Monday, April 30, 2012

aphotic \ey-FOH-tik\, adjective:

Lightless; dark.

I sat curled up on the sofa, trapped in the dream from which I had begun to awaken, but still lost in the reminiscence of our aphotic rendezvous.
-- Žakalin Nežić, Goodbye Serbia

The stars and moon outside the windows on the twenty- first floor of Fordum Towers shined in the distance, the sky otherwise ebony and aphotic.
-- Steven Gillis, Water Falls

Coined in the early 1900s, aphotic comes from the Greek word photic meaning "light," as in the word photo, and the prefix a- meaning "not."

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Ensconce

Word of the Day for Sunday, April 29, 2012

ensconce \en-SKONS\, verb:

1. To settle securely or snugly.
2. To cover or shelter; hide securely.

Here, Ryan would ensconce himself in a hammock.
-- Zadie Smith, White Teeth

This did not trouble him, and he was quite content to ensconce himself in a cosy corner...
-- Georgette Heyer, Regency Buck

They ensconce themselves in their child, in adding and replacing furniture, in discussing insurance and finally buying some.
-- Norman Mailer, The Naked and the Dead

Ensconce is related to the word for a type of fort that defended a bridge or pass. It came to mean "to settle securely" in the late 1500s.

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Littoral

Word of the Day for Saturday, April 28, 2012

littoral \LIT-er-uhl\, adjective:

1. Pertaining to the shore of a lake, sea, or ocean.
2. (On ocean shores) of or pertaining to the biogeographic region between the sublittoral zone and the high-water line and sometimes including the supralittoral zone above the high-water line.
3. Of or pertaining to the region of freshwater lake beds from the sublittoral zone up to and including damp areas on shore.

noun:
1. A littoral region.

The extensive artificialization of lake shorelines reduces the native littoral vegetation in quantity and quality.
-- Alex Córdoba-Aguilar, Dragonflies and Damselflies

There was an exuberant fierceness in the littoral here, a vital competition for existence.
-- John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

Littoral stems from the Latin word lītus which meant "shore." It was replaced by the Old English word shore but is still used by scientists.

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Nosh

Word of the Day for Friday, April 27, 2012

nosh \nosh\, verb:

1. To snack or eat between meals.
2. To snack on.

noun:
1. A snack.

“Here are more munchies for you to nosh on. I know you're probably hungry.” Vincent added a platter of scrumptious fried calamari to the table.
-- Jessica Speart, Black Delta Night

"You got anything to nosh on?" "We're going to a good restaurant; leave your appetite alone."
-- William Goldman, Boys and Girls Together

Nosh stems from the Yiddish word nashn from the German word meaning "to nibble." It entered English in the 1950s.

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Adenoidal

Word of the Day for Thursday, April 26, 2012

adenoidal \ad-n-OID-l\, adjective:

1. Being characteristically pinched and nasal in tone quality.
2. Of or pertaining to the adenoids; adenoid.
3. Having the adenoids enlarged, especially to a degree that interferes with normal breathing.

"Quite the good, old-fashioned type of servant," as Miss Marple explained afterward, and with the proper, inaudible, respectful voice, so different from the loud but adenoidal accents of Gladys.
-- Agatha Christie, Three Blind Mice

Then just as suddenly the sensation was gone and I heard a shrill, adenoidal voice that swallowed most of its soft consonants…
-- Charles Johnson, Middle Passage

Adenoidal only entered English in the 1910s, referring to the glands near the nasal passage.

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Barnburner

Word of the Day for Wednesday, April 25, 2012

barnburner \BAHRN-bur-ner\, noun:

1. Something that is highly exciting or impressive.
2. Chiefly Pennsylvania. A wooden friction match.
3. (Initial capital letter) A member of the progressive faction in the Democratic party in New York State 1845–52.

“So, ready for the elder's meeting tonight?” Olan said, pouring himself some coffee. “Should be a barnburner from what I hear.”
-- Jonathan Weyer, The Faithful

"A real barnburner — look, you got me sweating buckets." Jason's sitting on the curb with his teammates.
-- Craig Davidson, Rust and Bone

Barnburner is an Americanism that was first observed in the 1830s. It referred to the practice of burning down a barn to get rid of rats.

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Fard

Word of the Day for Tuesday, April 24, 2012

fard \fahrd\, verb:

1. To apply cosmetics.

noun:
1. Facial cosmetics.

She's farded inch-thick with affectation. She's perfumed to suffocation with the musk of pretence. The colour on her cheek is part paint, part mock-modesty.
-- Mary Cowden Clarke, The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines

Holding a candle dramatically high, wrapped in a very shabby old housegown, with some kind of fard on her cheeks and her grey hair screwed up in short plaits above her ears, she had a rather ridiculous air...
-- Phyllis Bentley, Love and Money

Fard comes from the Old Low Franconian word farwiđon meaning "to dye or colour." In the Old French it became farder meaning "to apply makeup."

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Germinal

Word of the Day for Monday, April 23, 2012

germinal \JUR-muh-nl\, adjective:

1. Being in the earliest stage of development.
2. Of or pertaining to a germ or germs.
3. Of the nature of a germ or germ cell.

The germinal idea can be anything that gets your creative juices flowing. It can be a place, a person, an odd event.
-- James N. Frey, The Key

But there are also young forces which are connected with the germinal qualities the Earth holds within the cosmos.
-- Rudolf Steiner, The Fifth Gospel

Germinal is derived from the Latin word germen meaning "sprout, bud."

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Obtuse

Word of the Day for Sunday, April 22, 2012

obtuse \uhb-TOOS\, adjective:

1. Not quick or alert in perception, feeling, or intellect.
2. Not sharp, acute, or pointed; blunt in form.
3. (Of a leaf, petal, etc.) rounded at the extremity.
4. Indistinctly felt or perceived, as pain or sound.

"Excuse me?" Rose says, giving me the look I deserve, given the obtuse nature of my invitation.
-- David Sosnowski, Vamped

That was always your failing. Too obtuse. Never able quite to get to the point. Or to make people realise when you have got there.
-- Paul House, Dust Before the Wind

He tried to collect his newspaper from under her while asking, “Then why did you ask me that obtuse question?”
-- Shelly Hancock, Entertaining Jonathan

Obtuse comes from the Latin word tundere which meant "to beat" and the prefix ob- meaning "against" because it referred to the process of beating metal until it was dull.

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Hsien

Word of the Day for Saturday, April 21, 2012

hsien \shyuhn\, noun:

1. One of a group of benevolent spirits promoting good in the world.
2. In China, a county or district.

Taoists want to live forever, become Hsien.
-- Louis Rogers, Ladder to the Sky

The hsien was willing to depart, most willing if it could fulfill its mission and take her with it. By urging the spirit to depart as quickly as possible, Deng had inadvertently given it new strength.
-- Jane Lindskold, Five Odd Honors

Hsien stems from the Chinese word xiān meaning "hermit, wizard." It came into English in the 1960s.

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Agnomen

Word of the Day for Friday, April 20, 2012

agnomen \ag-NOH-muhn\, noun:

1. A nickname.
2. An additional, fourth name given to a person by the ancient Romans in allusion to some achievement or other circumstance, as “Africanus” in “Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus.”

He was thin in person and low in stature, with light sandy-colored hair, and small pale features, from which he derived his agnomen of Bean or white.
-- Sir Walter Scott, Waverley

Successful Roman generals were frequently given an agnomen celebrating the source of their victories.
-- Waldo E. Sweet, Lectiones Primae

Agnomen comes from the Latin tradition of adding a fourth nickname to someone's given name. Ag- is a variation of the prefix ad- meaning "to" or "near." Nomen means "name."

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Bona Fides

Word of the Day for Thursday, April 19, 2012

bona fides \BOH-nah FEE-des\, noun:

1. Good faith; the state of being exactly as claims or appearances indicate.
2. (Sometimes italics) (used with a plural verb) the official papers, documents, or other items that prove authenticity, legitimacy, etc., as of a person or enterprise; credentials.

He seemed to feel that he had to convince them of his bona fides before they would trust the purity of the fuel that he was selling.
-- Dean R. Koontz, One Door Away from Heaven

The want of sincerity or bona fides, in a large body of men, respected and respectable, is a very tender place, and cannot be touched with too much delicacy.
-- Thomas Reid, The Works of Thomas Reid

We cannot investigate the bona fides of any of these people. We have to rely solely on deduction.
-- Agatha Christie, Murder on the Orient Express

Originally bona fide, bona fides was accidentally pluralised by the 1830s and subsequently was used as a synonym for credentials.

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Reconnoiter

Word of the Day for Wednesday, April 18, 2012

reconnoiter \ree-kuh-NOI-ter\, verb:

1. To make an inspection or observation.
2. To inspect, observe, or survey (the enemy, the enemy's strength or position, a region, etc.) in order to gain information for military purposes.
3. To examine or survey a region or area for engineering, geological, or other purposes.

It was necessary to reconnoiter the corral, in order to ascertain if it was occupied.
-- Jules Verne, The Mysterious Island

I must ride up on that mountain, and reconnoiter; otherwise you see they might come down from the mountain.
-- Leo Tolstoy, A Russian Proprietor and Other Stories

Reconnoiter comes from the French word reconnoître meaning "to explore." 7

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Xenophilia

Word of the Day for Tuesday, April 17, 2012

xenophilia \zen-uh-FIL-ee-uh\, noun:

An attraction to foreign peoples, cultures, or customs.

Yet the scenario of openhanded host and guest, of xenophilia, is played out time and time again in Homer's Odyssey. It mattered to those hill-bound and sea-scattered tribes that the wanderer be made welcome…
-- Nicholas Delbanco, The Lost Suitcase

This connectedness — so evident to the drama's spectator, so indiscernible to the dramatised participant — promotes what we might call xenophilia.
-- Susan Gubar, Critical Condition

The opposite of xenophobia, xenophilia has the same Greek roots. It literally means "attracted to strangers." It first appeared in English in the 1920s and was used heavily after the Second World War.

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Aperçu

Word of the Day for Monday, April 16, 2012

aperçu \a-per-SY\, noun:

1. A hasty glance; a glimpse.
2. An immediate estimate or judgment; understanding; insight.
3. An outline or summary.

Dr. Lornier, if you would be kind enough to give us a summary of your accomplishments and an aperçu of your plans for the next two months.
-- Mona Risk, To Love a Hero

He was going to lecture that afternoon on Prosperity and, since I was unable to go to the lecture, he was good enough to give me an aperçu of the situation.
-- Ford Madox Ford, It Was the Nightingale

Aperçu literally means "perceived" in French. It entered English in the 1820s.

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Palladium

Word of the Day for Sunday, April 15, 2012

palladium \puh-LEY-dee-uhm\, noun:

1. Anything believed to provide protection or safety; safeguard.
2. A statue of Athena, especially one on the citadel of Troy on which the safety of the city was supposed to depend.
3. A rare metallic element of the platinum group, silver-white, ductile and malleable, harder and fusing more readily than platinum; used chiefly as a catalyst and in dental and other alloys. Symbol: Pd; atomic weight: 106.4; atomic number: 46; specific gravity: 12 at 20°C.

Trial by jury is the palladium of our liberties.
-- Mark Twain, Roughing It

So, representative institutions are the talismanic palladium of the nation, are they? The palladium of the classes that have them, I daresay.
-- Charles Kingsley, Alton Locke: Novels, Poems and Letters of Charles Kingsley

Palladium is related to the Greek word pallas meaning "little maiden." The sense of a protective talisman comes from the name of a statue of Athena that guarded the city of Troy.

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Irriguous

Word of the Day for Saturday, April 14, 2012

irriguous \ih-RIG-yoo-uhs\, adjective:

Well-watered, as land.

For if the old cress-woman, the sole inhabitant of that secluded valley, had been inclined to make observations, she could not have failed to perceive that irriguous as were the windings of the brook, Miss Margaret and her friends preferred following them to their utmost.
-- Catherine Grace Frances Gore, "Blanks and Prizes, Or The Wheel of Fortune," Tait's Edinburgh Magazine

As nothing, at the opening of Spring, can exceed the luxuriant vegetation of these irriguous valleys; so, no term could be chosen more expressive of their verdure.
-- William Beckford, Vathek

Irriguous comes from the Latin word irrigāre meaning "to wet" and the suffix -ous which turns a verb into an adjective, like nervous.

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Approbate

Word of the Day for Friday, April 13, 2012

approbate \AP-ruh-beyt\, verb:

To approve officially.

And as for that one, let him work, let him work all he likes, as long as he doesn't interfere with anybody or touch anybody; let him work—I agree and I approbate!
-- Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Double and the Gambler

By that logic, it is only the creation of a domestic crowd that can truly approbate the doings of the nation.
-- John Plotz, The Crowd: British literature and Public Politics

Approbate stems from the Latin word approbāre, from the root ap- which is a variation of ad-, meaning "towards," and probātus meaning "proved."

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Macaronic

Word of the Day for Thursday, April 12, 2012

macaronic \mak-uh-RON-ik\, adjective:

1. Composed of a mixture of languages.
2. Composed of or characterised by Latin words mixed with vernacular words or non-Latin words given Latin endings.
3. Mixed; jumbled.

noun:
1. Macaronics, macaronic language.
2. A macaronic verse or other piece of writing.

The tradition is even more significant in Folengo's Italian works and especially in his macaronic writings.
-- Mikhail Bakhtin, Rabelais and His World

The macaronic mode swivels between different languages. I believe Beckett chose French against English for similar reasons to those of Jean Arp in selecting French against German.
-- W. D. Redfern, French Laughter: Literary Humour from Diderot to Tournier

The journalistic multiplicity of voices found in the Magazine corresponded with the poetic multi-vocality of Fergusson's macaronic compositions, texts that combined elements of neo-classical English and vernacular Scots diction.
-- Ian Brown, The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature

Macaronic is related to the word macaroni. Specifically, the pasta is named after the Southern Italian dialect maccarone, which was also associated with a mixture of Latin and vernacular languages.

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Tony

Word of the Day for Wednesday, April 11, 2012

tony \TOH-nee\, adjective:

High-toned; stylish.

When we ate lunch in a tony restaurant near the Empire State Building, Ricky ordered a turkey sandwich and a glass of milk. I followed suit, not really knowing what to order in a restaurant.
-- David Appleton, Son: Saved from Myself

Then she had an appointment for a massage, and was ending her day by trying on wedding gowns at a tony dress shop on Fifth Avenue that Ava had located during her visit.
-- E. Lynn Harris, Not a Day Goes By

An Americanism, tony entered the language in the 1870s. Its precise origin is unclear, but it is related to the word tone meaning "a particular quality or way of sounding."

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Caparison

Word of the Day for Tuesday, April 10, 2012

caparison \kuh-PAR-uh-suhn\, verb:

1. To dress richly; deck.
2. To cover with a caparison.

noun:
1. A decorative covering for a horse or for the tack or harness of a horse; trappings.
2. Rich and sumptuous clothing or equipment.

The fruit, the fountain that's in all of us; in Edward; in Eleanor; so why caparison ourselves on top?
-- Virginia Woolf, The Years

And he followed her order, bridling and saddling the horse and making every effort to caparison it well.
-- Chrétien de Troyes, The Complete Romances of Chrétien de Troyes

Caparison originally referred to an elaborate covering for horses. It is related to the word chaperon.

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Cumshaw

Word of the Day for Monday, April 9, 2012

cumshaw \KUHM-shaw\, noun:

A present; gratuity; tip.

Many had nothing to give, but the younger wives always brought a modest cumshaw—a gift—for whatever mysterious service Dr. Ransome provided.
-- J.G. Ballard, Empire of the Sun

No one in the filthy streets (but for the blessed sea breezes San Francisco would enjoy cholera every season) interfered with my movements, though many asked for cumshaw.
-- Rudyard Kipling, From Sea to Sea

You know, cumshaw is not really understood by Westerners. It is not a bribe in the Western sense. More accurately, it is like a tip that is given in advance.
-- David Desauld, Twilight in Tientsin

Cumshaw stems from the Chinese word gân xiè meaning "grateful thanks."

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Apotropaic

Word of the Day for Sunday, April 8, 2012

apotropaic \ap-uh-truh-PEY-ik\, adjective:

Intended to ward off evil.

Ritualistic behaviour used as an apotropaic to ward off private demons, yes. Except to Raymond there's danger everywhere.
-- Leonore Fleischer, Rain Man

In an older kind of fairy story, the magic of the flowers would be potent but unspecified, vaguely apotropaic.
-- Anthony Burgess, J.G. Ballard, "Introduction," The Best Short Stories of J.G. Ballard

Apotropaic came into common usage in the 1880s. It comes from the Greek word apotrópai meaning "averting evil."

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Pleach

Word of the Day for Saturday, April 7, 2012

pleach \pleech\, verb:

1. To interweave branches or vines for a hedge or arbor.
2. To make or renew (a hedge, arbor, etc.) by such interweaving.
3. To braid (hair).

Robert got up very early, and went off to pleach the big hedge at the foot of the far pasture.
-- Mary Webb, Seven for a Secret

I might not be able to install plumbing fixtures or to pleach apple trees, but I know how to throw a good party.
-- Nancy Atherton, Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree

Pleach is derived from the Middle French word plais, which meant "a hedge."

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Agley

Word of the Day for Friday, April 6, 2012

agley \uh-GLEE\, adjective:

Off the right line; awry; wrong.

Reasoning closely, I deduced that her interview with LP Runkle must have gone awry or, as I much prefer to put it, agley.
-- P. G. Wodehouse, Much Obliged, Jeeves

This had been one of those agley days.
-- Alisa Craig, The Grub-and-Stakers Move a Mountain

Agley comes from the Middle English word glien meaning "a squint," as in "to look at sideways."

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/

Ephebe

Word of the Day for Thursday, April 5, 2012

ephebe \ih-FEEB\, noun:

A young man.

His glance touched their faces lightly as he smiled, a blond ephebe.
-- James Joyce, Ulysses

The three Florentine Davids, those of Donatello, Verrocchio, and Michelangelo, represent the changes in the ideal of male beauty and the model of an ephebe. They are ever smaller, more strained, girlish.
-- Jan Kott, Shakespeare Our Contemporary

The summer before his senior year of college, in 1997, he worked as an intern at The Paris Review. James Linville, who was then the magazine’s editor, recalled Rowan as an “ephebe type, almost Truman Capote-like.”
-- Lizzie Widdicombe, “The Plagiarist’s Tale,” The New Yorker, Feb. 13, 2012

Ephebe stems from the Greek word for a young man just entering manhood and commencing training for full Athenian citizenship. It comes from the roots ep- meaning "near" and hḗbē meaning "manhood."

Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/