Apophasis

Word of the Day for Monday, October 8, 2012

Apophasis \uh-POF-uh-sis\, noun:

Denial of one's intention to speak of a subject that is at the same time named or insinuated, as “I shall not mention Caesar's avarice, nor his cunning, nor his morality.”

But I think that anything that is deep isn't love, it's deliberate calculation or schizophrenia. I myself wouldn't even attempt to say what love is - probably both love and God can only be defined by apophasis, through those things that they are not.
-- Viktor Pelevin, The Sacred Book of the Werewolf

"…Now, I have no desire to be a backseat driver—” Apophasis, Chris thought; saying you're not going to say something in order to say it. Nixon's favorite device, and Newt Gingrich's, and Karl Rove's—fine old Republican tradition.
-- John Barnes, Directive 51

Apophasis stems from the Greek word apópha meaning "to say no, deny." The suffix -sis appears in Greek loanwords, where it forms an abstract noun from a verb, as in thesis.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com 

Tardigrade

Word of the Day for Sunday, October 7, 2012

Tardigrade \TAHR-di-greyd\, adjective:

1. Slow in pace or movement.
2. Belonging or pertaining to the phylum Tardigrada.

noun:
1. Also called bear animalcule, water bear. Any microscopic, chiefly herbivorous invertebrate of the phylum Tardigrada, living in water, on mosses, lichens, etc.

The days were long and boring as we walked a continuous almost tardigrade pace around several large buildings, again with empty carbines.
-- Stafford O. Chenevert, Amber Waves of Grain

…the soldiers were struggling and fighting their way after them, in such tardigrade fashion as their hoof-shaped shoes would allow—impeded, but not very resolutely attacked, by the people.
-- George Eliot, Romola

He rolls tardigrade, to a stop on a shoulder, stooped in sand, in its pretense as it doesn't exist and there's only desert…
-- Joshua Cohen, Witz

Related to the common word tardy, tardigrade comes from the Latin word tardigradus meaning "slow-paced."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Fracas

Word of the Day for Saturday, October 6, 2012

Fracas \FREY-kuhs\, noun:

A noisy, disorderly disturbance or fight; riotous brawl; uproar.

Two or three people who were not there during the fracas poked their heads in at the door to sympathise but that made Mrs. Turner madder.
-- Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

Never was he present at any gathering without some sort of a fracas occurring threat. Either he would require to be expelled from the room by gendarmes, or his friends would have to kick him out into the street.
-- Nikolai Gogol, Dead Souls

Fracas is derived from the Italian word fracasso meaning "to smash." It entered English in the 1720s.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com 

Agita

Word of the Day for Thursday, October 4, 2012

Agita \AJ-i-tuh\, noun:

1. Agitation; anxiety.
2. Heartburn; indigestion.

And my being named after the patron saint of love, St. Valentine, when I've had nothing but agita in romance just makes it more painfully ironic.
-- Rosanna Chiofalo, Bellla Fortuna

I'm eighty-two years old and I don't need this agita in my life!
-- Rita Lakin, Getting Old Is Murder

Agita was coined in America in the 1980s. It comes from the Italian word agitare meaning "to bother."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com 

True

Word of the Day for Wednesday, October 3, 2012

True \troo\, verb:

1. To make true; shape, adjust, place, etc., exactly or accurately: to true the wheels of a bicycle after striking a pothole.
2. (Especially in carpentry) to make even, symmetrical, level, etc. (often followed by up): to true up the sides of a door.

Have your shop replace the spoke and true the wheel, and make sure they check all spokes for signs of damage or wear.
-- Wes Hobson, Clark Campbell, Michael F. Vickers, Swim, Bike, Run

…fresh new magazines, in stacks lovingly squared and trued, waited on shelves cunningly sited just inside the front door.
-- Robert Sampson, Yesterday's Faces

But in its inner chamber, it's about the way the mind fetishes the smallest acts—the gears that keep life trued—even as our bodies enter a final winter.
-- Paul Harding, Tinkers

True, in the common sense of "real and authentic," has been in the English language since at least the 1200s. The less-common verb form of the word was first used in the 1840s, particularly with reference to mechanics.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com 

Hamartia

Word of the Day for Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Hamartia \hah-mahr-TEE-uh\, noun:

Tragic flaw.

What is Oedipus' hamartia that leads to his self-fulfilling self-reversal?
-- Laszlo Versényi, Man's Measure

We called it by many different things, such as hubris or hamartia, but given the way you butcher Latin, let's stick with English.
-- Stephanie Draven, The Fever and the Fury

Hamartia stems from the Greek word hamartánein which meant "to err." However, it entered English in the late 1800s.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com 

Utile

Word of the Day for Monday, October 1, 2012

Utile \YOO-til\, adjective:

Useful.

They have been accredited variously to the respective signs of the Zodiac, but to the end that resultant opinions have failed to be utile value.
-- John Hazelrigg, Astrosophic Principles And Astrosophic Tractates

It was located in an industrial warehouse but he had tricked it out smartly. It was altogether utile but not precisely cozy.
-- Eve Howard, Shadow Lane Volume 8

Utile comes directly from the French word of the same spelling which also means "useful." It entered English in the late 1400s.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com