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/

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/