Cline

Word of the Day for Friday 31^st October 2014

Cline \klahyn\ Noun 1. Linguistics. (in systemic linguistics) a scale of continuous gradation; continuum. 2. Biology. The gradual change in certain characteristics exhibited by members of a series of adjacent populations of organisms of the same species. Quotes The cline of register, then, represents the progression followed by social groups and individuals as the meanings which they exchange develop an increasing cognitive and functional complexity. -- Helen Leckie-Tarry, Language and Context, 1995 Origin Cline is derived from the Greek word klīnein. It entered English in the 1930’s. Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Realpolitik

Word of the Day for Thursday 30^th October 2014

Realpolitik \rey-AHL-poh-li-teek, ree-\

Noun 1. Political realism or practical politics, especially policy based on power rather than on ideals.

Quotes

Alas, when one advances blindly across the boggy ground of realpolitik, when pragmatism takes up the baton and conducts the orchestra, ignoring what is written in the score, you can be pretty sure that, as the imperative logic of dishonour will show, there are still, after all, a few more steps to descend. -- José Saramago, Death with Interruptions, 2005

Origin

Realpolitik comes directly from the German word of the same spelling which means "politics of realism." It emerged in English in the 1910’s. Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Pavonine

Word of the Day for Wednesday 29^th October 2014

Pavonine \PAV-uh-nahyn, -nin\

Adjective 1. Of or like a peacock. 2. Resembling the feathers of a peacock, as in colouring.

Quotes

In her hands the curtains rustle; she hangs silks purchased this morning on Princess Road, colour stirring pavonine in the lamplight of her bedroom. -- Kate Moses, Wintering: A Novel of Sylvia Plath, 2003

Origin

Pavonine is derived from the Latin word for peacock, pāvō, with the suffix -ine, a suffix of adjectives of Greek or Latin origin, meaning “of or pertaining to,” as in marine. Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Exiguous

Word of the Day for Tuesday 28^th October 2014

Exiguous \ig-ZIG-yoo-uhs, ik-SIG-\

Adjective 1. Scanty; meagre; small; slender: exiguous income.

Quotes

His exiguous nautical pension is hardly enough to pay for the one cockroach infested room which he inhabits in the slum area behind Tatwig Street... -- Lawrence Durrell, Justine, 1957

Origin

Exiguous is related to the term exigent and comes from the Latin word exiguus meaning "scanty in measure or number." Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Cloister

Word of the Day for Monday 27^th October 2014

Cloister \KLOI-ster\

Verb 1. To confine in retirement; seclude. 2. To confine in a monastery or convent.

Quotes

That's when I began to cloister myself, when I saw her strength, her determination to pull me out of my brooding. -- Manil Suri, The City of Devi, 2013

Origin

Cloister comes from an Anglo-French blend of cloison, meaning "partition," and clostre, from the Late Latin word meaning "enclosed place." Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Boobook

Word of the Day for Friday 24^th October 2014

Boobook \BOO-book, -book\

Noun 1. A small, reddish-brown spotted owl, Ninox boobook, native to Australia and New Zealand.

Quotes

It has large, staring eyes that are brilliant yellow, not greenish-toned as in Southern Boobook, which usually displays obvious dark markings (rather like black-eye bruises) around the eyes that are absent in the larger Barking Owl. -- Iain Campbell, Sam Woods, Nick Leseberg, Birds of Australia, 2014

Origin

Boobook comes from Dharuk, a now-extinct Australian aboriginal language. The word is said to be imitative of the sound the bird makes. Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Tutoyer

Word of the Day for Thursday 23^rd October 2014

Tutoyer \too-twah-YEY; Fr. ty-twa-YEY\

Verb 1. To address (someone), especially in French, using the familiar forms of the pronoun “you” rather than the more formal forms; address familiarly.

Quotes

An officer doesn't tutoyer a subordinate, unless they work closely in the same unit. -- Kevin G. Karpiak, edited by William Garriott, "La Police," Policing and Contemporary Governance, 2013

Origin

Tutoyer entered English in the late 1600s from the French word of the same spelling. In French tu is the informal form of address, and so to use it with someone is to display familiarity rather than deference. Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Azoth

Word of the Day for Wednesday 22^nd October 2014

Azoth \AZ-oth\

Noun 1. The universal remedy of Paracelsus. 2. Mercury, regarded by alchemists as the assumed first principle of all metals.

Quotes

As he had suspected, it was an azoth. He whistled on a small footlight he had noticed earlier, holding the azoth low enough to keep the driver from seeing it, should he look over his shoulder. -- Gene Wolfe, Litany of the Long Sun, 2000

Origin

Azoth is derived from the Arabic word az zā'ūq which meant quicksilver or mercury. Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Foremost

Word of the Day for Tuesday 21^st October 2014

Foremost \FAWR-mohst, -muhst, FOHR-\

Adjective, adverb 1. First in place, order, rank, etc.: the foremost surgeons.

Quotes

Although Higgins has never been to Syria, and until recently had no connection to the country, he has become perhaps the foremost expert on the munitions used in the war. -- Patrick Radden Keefe, "Rocket Man," The New Yorker, Nov. 25, 2013

Origin

Foremost has been in English since before 1000. It replaced the Old English word formest, which is related to the word first. Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Wisenheimer

Word of the Day for Monday 20^th October 2014

Wisenheimer \WAHY-zuhn-hahy-mer\

Noun 1. A wiseacre or smart aleck.

Quotes

She scoffed at Cindi Su's meekness and diffidence, but she also thought if you were a girl in these United States, being agreeable and dithering probably got you further than being a hulking wisenheimer who skipped grades in school and aspired to be a race car driver. -- Karen Karbo, The Stuff of Life, 2003

Origin

Wisenheimer is an Americanism that arose in the 1910’s. It is a combination of wise with heimer as an extracted form from surnames with this ending. Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Frisson

Word of the Day for Friday 17^th October 2014

Frisson \free-SOHN; Fr. free-SAWN\

Noun 1. A sudden, passing sensation of excitement; a shudder of emotion; thrill: The movie offers the viewer the occasional frisson of seeing a character in mortal danger.

Quotes

More likely, "frisson" is to be taken figuratively, referring to shivers that are the result of strong emotion. -- Emile Talbot, Reading Nelligan, 2003

Origin

Frisson entered English in 1770’s from the French word for "shiver" or "shudder." Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Ci-devant

Word of the Day for Thursday 16^th October 2014

Ci-devant \seeduh-VAHN\

Adjective 1. French. former: used especially in reference to a retired office holder.

Quotes

This self-indulgent aristo, the ci-devant banker Amédé Vincent, who had expiated his villainies upon the guillotine, was known to have been successful in abstracting the bulk of his ill-gotten wealth and concealing it somewhere... -- Baroness Emmuska Orczy, The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, 1919

Origin

Ci-devant comes from the French word of the same spelling which literally means "heretofore." Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Demesne

Word of the Day for Wednesday 15^th October 2014

Demesne \dih-MEYN, -MEEN\

Noun 1. Possession of land as one's own: land held in demesne. 2. An estate or part of an estate occupied and controlled by, and worked for the exclusive use of, the owner.

Quotes

As the foregoing analysis has demonstrated, the proportion between land held indemesne and land held by subtenants seems to have been relatively stable throughout the later Anglo-Saxon period and even beyond the Conquest. -- Francesca Tinti, Sustaining Belief, 2010

Origin

Demesne is derived from the Middle English word demeine. It is related to the more common word domain, which also comes from the Latin word dominicus meaning "of a master." Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Exilic

Word of the Day for Tuesday 14^th October 2014

Exilic \eg-ZIL-ik, ek-SIL-\

Adjective 1. Pertaining to exile, especially that of the Jews in Babylon.

Quotes

However, Ovid can serve as an exilic model in a more subtle manner, as several chapters demonstrate in their exploration of a range of other, less obvious, Ovidian moves and poses. -- Jennifer Ingleheart, "Introduction," Two Thousand Years of Solitude, 2011

Origin

Exilic entered English in the 1870’s. It is a combination of the word exile and -ic, a suffix that forms adjectives from other parts of speech, occurring originally in Greek and Latin loanwords, as in poetic and metallic. Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Hempy

Word of the Day for Monday 13^th October 2014

Hempy \HEM-pee\

Adjective 1. Scot. Mischievous; often in trouble for mischief.

Quotes

...and that there could not be a surer proof of the young hempy being his get, than that he had been a thief... -- John Galt, The Stolen Child, 1833

Origin

Hempy comes from the late Middle English word hempi, which meant "made of hemp." This is thought to be a dark joke about one being fit for hanging by a hemp rope, and, by attenuation, mischievous. Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Hebdomadal

Word of the Day for Friday 10^th October 2014

Hebdomadal \heb-DOM-uh-dl\

Adjective 1. Taking place, coming together, or published once every seven days; weekly: hebdomadal meetings; hebdomadal groups; hebdomadal journals. Noun 1. A weekly magazine, newspaper, etc.

Quotes

The Methodists of Octavius looked upon him as a queer fish, and through nearly a dozen years had never quite outgrown their hebdomadal tendency to surprise at seeing him enter their church. -- Harold Frederic, The Damnation of Theron Ware, 1896

Origin

Hebdomadal ultimately comes from the Greek term hébdomos meaning "seventh."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Nidificate

Word of the Day for Thursday 9^th October 2014

Nidificate \NID-uh-fi-keyt\

Verb 1. To build a nest.

Quotes

Many nidificate in holes of trees, or in the earth; the eggs are white and subspherical. -- Richard Owen, On the Anatomy of Vertebrates, Vol. II, 1866

Origin

Nidificate entered English in the early 1800’s from the Latin nīdificāre meaning "to build a nest." Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Chansonette

Word of the Day for Wednesday 8^th October 2014

Chansonette \shahn-saw-NET; English shan-suh-NET\

Noun 1. French. A little song; ditty.

Quotes

She laughed and now John knew that it was she whom he had heard singing the chansonette in that low murmuring tone. What was that little song? -- Joseph Alexander Altsheler, The Forest of Swords, 1915

Origin

Chansonette comes to English from the French chanson meaning "song" and the diminutive ending -ette.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Iwis

Word of the Day for Tuesday 7^th October 2014

Iwis \ih-WIS\

Adverb 1. Obsolete. certainly.

Quotes

"Ye, iwis," quoth that other wye, "here is wayth fayrest / That I sey this seven yere in sesoun of wynter." -- , Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, circa 1375

Origin

Iwis has been around in English since before 900. It finds its roots in the Old English adjective gewiss meaning "certain." Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Bibliophobe

Word of the Day for Monday 6^th October 2014

Bibliophobe \BIB-lee-uh-fohb\

Noun 1. A person who hates, fears, or distrusts books.

Quotes

"But they are slow to make. The printing press can produce many copies of the same book, you see. With this, anyone who wanted a book could simply go in a shop and buy it as other things are bought." I frowned, not convinced at all that this was a good thing. The king laughed. "So Kate, my bibliophobe, what would you rather be doing than reading?" -- Susan Higginbotham, The Stolen Crown, 2010

Origin

Bibliophobe comes from the Greek biblion meaning "book" and phóbos "fear." Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Ablactate

Word of the Day for Friday 3^rd October 2014

Ablactate \ab-LAK-teyt\

Verb 1. To wean.

Quotes

His style, however, has found imitators; especially of late years, since the rage commenced of disfiguring and debasing our language by innovation. Such writers, instead of brittle, would say fragile; instead of fruitfulness, feracity; and humectate, steril, desiderate, ablactate, indigitate, etc. instead of moisten, barren, desire (or wish for), wean, point out, etc. -- James Beattie, The Works of James Beattie, LL.D., Vol. IV, 1809

Origin

Ablactate entered English in the 1700’s and combines the Latin prefix ab- meaning "from" or "away," and lac meaning "milk." Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Higgledy-piggledy

Word of the Day for Thursday 2^nd October 2014

Higgledy-piggledy \HIG-uhl-dee-PIG-uhl-dee\

Adverb 1. In a jumbled, confused, or disorderly manner; helter-skelter. Adjective 1. Confused; jumbled.

Quotes

Within six hours, Kesselring had ordered all or parts of eleven divisions to converge around the Colli Laziali in what he would later term a "higgledy-piggledy jumble." -- Rick Atkinson, The Day of the Battle, 2007

Origin

Higgledy-piggledy came to English in the late 1500’s and is a rhyming compound of uncertain origin. Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Quotha

Word of the Day for Wednesday 1^st October 2014

Quotha \KWOH-thuh\

Interjection 1. Archaic. Indeed! (Used ironically or contemptuously in quoting another).

Quotes

Lady H. H: A tar barrel, quotha! A thorn tree—quotha! You that were harping on galaxies and milky ways! You that were swearing I outshone 'em all! -- Virginia Woolf, Between the Acts, 1941

Origin

Quotha entered English in the early 1500’s from quoth a meaning "quoth he." Quoth, an archaic verb meaning "said," has been used since Middle English was spoken. Thanks to: www.dictionary.com