Stridulous

Word of the Day for Thursday, December 27, 2012

Stridulous \STRIJ-uh-luhs\, adjective:

1. Also, strid·u·lant. Making or having a harsh or grating sound.
2. Pathology. Pertaining to or characterised by stridor.

He was about to leave when a stridulous voice cut through the din.
-- Stephen Marlowe, The Death and Life of Miguel De Cervantes

But at this moment the long-drawn, slightly stridulous utterances of Mrs. Brimmer rose through the other greetings like a lazy east wind.
-- The Writings of Bret Harte, The Crusade of the Excelsior

Stridulous came from the Latin word stridulus meaning "giving a shrill sound, creaking" from stridere meaning "to utter an inarticulate sound, grate, creak."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com 

Avidity

Word of the Day for Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Avidity \uh-VID-i-tee\, noun:

1. Enthusiasm or dedication.
2. Eagerness; greediness.

One may speak about anything on earth with fire, with enthusiasm, with ecstasy, but one only speaks about oneself with avidity.
-- Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, "A Correspondence," Essential Turgenev

Come, walk up, and purchase with avidity, Overcome your diffidence and natural timidity!
-- William S. Gilbert, Arthur Seymour Sullivan, Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride

Avidity appeared in English in the mid-1500s, originating from the French word avide, meaning "to crave, long for." The term adds a dimension of intensity to the "eagerness" with which it is often equated.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Douce

Word of the Day for Sunday, December 23, 2012

Douce \doos\, adjective:

Sedate; modest; quiet.

“So should I have been, in my interview with Sir Thomas— how shall I put it— more douce?”
-- Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall

Port Glasgow is to the east of Greenock, Gourock to the west. The latter town combines a douce middle-class residential area and a Ken MacLeod.
-- Edited by Gardner Dozois, The Year's Best Science Fiction: Nineteenth Annual Collection

Douce comes from the French word of the same spelling meaning "sweet." It became widely used in English after it was used in the Chanson of Roland, a epic poem written about Charlemagne.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com 

Decathect

Word of the Day for Saturday, December 22, 2012

Decathect \dee-kuh-THEKT\, verb:

To withdraw one's feelings of attachment from (a person, idea, or object), as in anticipation of a future loss: He decathected from her in order to cope with her impending death.

Freud argued that grieving involved a process of remembering and reflecting upon all the memories associated with the deceased in order to sever an emotional connection, or “decathect,” and make room for new bonds and relationships.
-- Maria Cizmic, Performing Pain

Jonathan was the name of the boy in the pagoda with Michael. “He will continue manipulating Jonathan. We must get Jonathan to decathect from Michael.”
-- Chaim Potok, The Promise

Decathect originates from a combination of the Latin prefix de- implying an undoing or removal, and the Greek term kathek meaning "to keep, hold on to." It was originally used by Freud in the 1930s.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com 

Algid

Word of the Day for Friday, December 21, 2012

Algid \AL-jid\, adjective:

Cold; chilly.

The sun weakens and grows pale as though seen through algid water and the air is stale and still.
-- Bryce Courtenay, The Family Frying Pan

There was an algid texture to the air, causing everyone to shiver involuntarily.
-- Richard K. Patterson, The Kaleidoscope Project

A late Renaissance term, algid is derived from the Latin algidus, meaning "cold."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com 

Counterblast

Word of the Day for Thursday, December 20, 2012

Counterblast \koun-ter-blast\, noun:

An unrestrained and vigorously powerful response to an attacking statement.

In my view it's really a matter of style. For getting me most effective counterblast, I mean. You don't want to counterblast them in their own style. They're to meeting such counterblasts, anyhow.
-- William Cooper, You're Not Alone

On 26 September 1920 Woolf wrote in her diary that she was 'making up a paper upon Women, as a counterblast to Mr Bennett's adverse views reported in the papers' and this turned into 'A Society'.
-- Virginia Woolf, introduction by David Bradshaw, "The Proper Stuff for Fiction," The Mark on the Wall

Counterblast, predictably, comes from the roots "counter" and "blast." It came into common English usage in the 1560s. The prefix counter- originates in the Latin word contrā which meant "against, to return." Blast, on the other hand, originates in Old English, from the word blǽst, which meant "to blow."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com 

Echolalia

Word of the Day for Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Echolalia \ek-oh-LEY-lee-uh\, noun:

1. The imitation by a baby of the vocal sounds produced by others, occurring as a natural phase of childhood development.
2. Psychiatry. The uncontrollable and immediate repetition of words spoken by another person.

At the time when speech is being learned, there begins a period of echolalia in which the child repeats with tireless continuation all the words or sentences it hears; either completely, or else their closing cadences.
-- Kurt Koffka, The Growth of the Mind: An Introduction to Child Psychology

These "terrestrial echoes" where the "swamp's echolalia," according to Kiwi, who liked to make geography as pretentious as possible.
-- Karen Russell, Swamplandia!

I had cultivated a mild sort of insanity, echolalia, I think it's called. All the tag ends of the night's proofreading danced on the tip of my tongue.
-- Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer

Echolalia originates from two Greek roots: echo derived from the name of the mythic nymph Echo fabled to have pined herself away to nothing but her name, combined with lalia meaning "talk or prattle."

thanks to: www.dictionary.com