Pother

Word of the Day for Tuesday, May 8, 2012

pother \POTH-er\, noun:

1. A heated discussion, debate, or argument; fuss; to-do.
2. Commotion; uproar.
3. A choking or suffocating cloud, as of smoke or dust.

verb:
1. To worry; bother.

"An' why all the pother?" Mrs. Rickards emitted a series of sniffs and returned his scowl with a frosty glare.
-- Colin Arthur Roderick, The Lady and the Lawyer

I don't know what's so extraordinary about it, or why there should be such a pother.
-- William Dean Howells, Novels 1886-1888, Volume 2

Pother is of unknown origin. It is not related to the word bother which did not enter English until the 1700s and is related to the word both.

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

Sudorific

Word of the Day for Monday, May 7, 2012

sudorific \soo-duh-RIF-ik\, adjective:

1. Causing sweat.
2. Sudoriparous.

noun:
1. A sudorific agent.

Having thrown him into a cold sweat by his spiritual sudorific, he attacks him with his material remedies, which are often quite as unpalatable.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Medical Essays, 1842-1882

Wracked by such sudorific thoughts, he tossed noisily about, maddened, aching.
-- Angela Huth, South of the Lights

Every sudorific hitherto employed had failed to produce this result upon a skin which horrible diseases had left impervious.
-- Honoré de Balzac, Cousin Pons

Sudorific comes from the Latin word sūdor meaning "sweat." The word "sweat" is unrelated and comes from the Old English, swote.

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

Mensch

Word of the Day for Sunday, May 6, 2012

mensch \mench\, noun:

A decent, upright, mature, and responsible person.

It's easy to be a mensch, his dad says. You honour your father and mother. You stay married, you set your kids a good example, you don't lie or cheat or steal. And every once in a while, Cookie, you gotta pick up the check, his father says, then winks.
-- Jane VanDenburgh, Physics of Sunset

A mensch is not usually interested in fame. You are liable to meet a mensch in almost any situation.
-- Ira Wood, The Kitchen Man

Mensch entered English from Yiddish in the 1950s. In Yiddish, it meant "man, human being" and had the positive associations that carried into English. It is related to the German word mensch.

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

Besot

Word of the Day for Saturday, May 5, 2012

besot \bih-SOT\, verb:

1. To infatuate; obsess.
2. To intoxicate or stupefy with drink.
3. To make stupid or foolish: a mind besotted with fear and superstition.

We mustn't besot ourselves with big words like independence and sovereignty. We must begin with small concrete tasks.
-- Piotr Rawicz and Peter Wiles, Blood from the Sky

He tried to appear as besot with her as he was with her father's power and money.
-- Judith Pella and Tracie Peterson, A Hope Beyond

The prefix be was used in Middle English to denote verbs, as in the contemporary words become and befriend. The word sot referred to an alcoholic.

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

Fulcrum

Word of the Day for Friday, May 4, 2012

fulcrum \FOOL-kruhm\, noun:

1. The support, or point of rest, on which a lever turns.
2. Any prop or support.
3. Zoology. Any of various structures in an animal serving as a hinge or support.

verb:
1. To fit with a fulcrum; put a fulcrum on.

An equal partnership is like a see-saw that sits on a fulcrum. There is a balance of power when one partner gives in and then the other does likewise.
-- Shirley Gunstream Poland, Hearing the Silent Cries

A storm of plans, each one trying to make me into a fulcrum.
-- Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice

Fulcrum originally referred to a bed post from the Latin word fulcire meaning "to prop up."

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

Numen

Word of the Day for Thursday, May 3, 2012

numen \NOO-min\, noun:

Divine power, especially one who inhabits a particular object.

This “liquid” flowing up his arm and out of the other was numen, the divine substance, the sacred spirit that lives in a certain place in the body and sustains us all.
-- Jonathan Carroll, White Apples

He was now fairly confident that a shrine, unlike a temple, would contain no resident numen.
-- Dave Duncan, Present Tense (Round Two of the Great Game)

Numen is derived from the Latin word nūmen meaning "a nod, command, or divine will or power."

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

Ort

Word of the Day for Tuesday, May 1, 2012

ort \awrt\, noun:

A scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

She continued and enjoyed every tender morsel. There wasn't even an ort left on the plate.
-- Jack Collins, The Polyandrist Murders: Book 1 Of 2

They fed her on the orts and ends, a little better than the dog, and a little worse than the cat.
-- Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

“Charles's programs didn't turn up anything?” “Not an ort.” “ Wow. You think they might be dead?
-- Walter Mosley, All I Did Was Shoot My Man

Ort is related to the Old English word eten meaning "to eat."

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