Apostasy

Wednesday 23rd March 2016

Apostasy \ [uh-pos-tuh-see] 
plural apostasies.

Noun
1. a total desertion of or departure from one's religion, principles, party,cause, etc.

Quote

The biggest story of the past fifty years in American politics has been the ascendancy of the 

right, and it's a story of apostasy.

George Packer, "Turned Around," The New Yorker, February 22, 2016

Origin 

Apostasy can be traced to the Greek apostasis meaning "a standing away." It entered English in 

the mid-1300's.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Wordmonger

Tuesday 22nd March 2016

Wordmonger \ [wurd-muhng-ger, -mong-] 

noun

1. a writer or speaker who uses words pretentiously or with careless disregard for 

meaning.

Quote 
He lectured with consummate elegance, in a pungent and pure Spanish--he had begun his university career teaching the classics of the Golden Age, 

which he had thoroughly mastered, and traces of this mastery remained in 

his prose and in the precision and magnificence with which he expressed 

himself-- yet he was not, even remotely, the garrulous professor, an 

empty-headed wordmonger who listens to himself talk.

Mario Vargas Llosa, translated by Helen Lane, A Fish in the Water, 1994

Origin 

Wordmonger entered English in the late 1500's. The word monger means 

"a dealer in or trader of a commodity" or "a person who is involved with 

something in a petty or contemptible way" and it is frequently used in 

combination, as in the terms fishmonger and gossipmonger.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Amaranthine

Word of the Day for Monday 21st March 2016

Amaranthine \ [am-uh-ran-thin, -thahyn] 

adjective

1. of a dark reddish-purple colour 
2. of or resembling the amaranth

Quotes Her name was Sally Travers. Dead now. Yet one day, one knows, in her everlasting memory, will be written some amaranthine song, to be heard sung through the streets of Dublin.J. P. Donleavy, The History of the Ginger Man, 1994

• 
  

Origin of amaranthine -

Amaranthine comes from the Greek word 

amáranton meaning "unfadingflower," formed from 

the Greek maraínein, "to fade" and ánthos, "flower." 

It entered English in the mid-1600's.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Diaphanous

Word of the Day for Monday 16^th November 2015

Diaphanous \ dahy-af-uh-nuh s

Adjective 1. very sheer and light; almost completely transparent or translucent. 2. delicately hazy.

Quotes

As the audience enters, the diaphanous curtains onstage are gently blowing  in the breezes of the Amalfi coast. -- Janice Kaplan, Tennessee Williams' Forgotten Masterpiece, 2011

Origin

C17: from Medieval Latin diaphanus, from Greek diaphanēs transparent, from  diaphainein to show through, from dia- + phainein to show

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Cryptesthesia

Word of the Day for Friday 21^st November 2014

Cryptesthesia \krip-tuhs-THEE-zhuh, -zhee-uh, -zee-uh\

Noun 1. Psychology. Allegedly paranormal perception, as clairvoyance or clairaudience.

Quotes

Some experts attribute the jerking of the rod to cryptesthesia, some to divine or devilish inspiration, others to unconscious muscular activity, “sympathy,” they call it, between the diviner and the object. -- Michael Knight, Divining Rod, 2010

Origin

Coined in the 1920's, cryptesthesia is a combination of crypt(o)-, meaning "hidden," and esthesia referring to "capacity for sensation or feeling."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Oeuvre

Word of the Day for Thursday 20^th November 2014

Oeuvre \œ-vruh\

Noun 1. French. The works of a writer, painter, or the like, taken as a whole. 2. French. Any one of the works of a writer, painter, or the like.

Quotes

I am very fond of our body of work together, our oeuvre, even though logging 24-hour days for years on end for a band is not the easiest way to lead a life that could have been very creative in its own right. -- Ian Faith, interviewed by Chick Hadrian, "Spinal Tap: The Unauthorized Sequel," Spy, July/August, 1992

Origin

Oeuvre comes to English by way of French and can ultimately be traced to the Latin word for "work," opus. It entered English in the late 1800’s. Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Crapehanger

Word of the Day for Wednesday 19^th November 2014

Crapehanger \KREYP-hang-er\

Noun 1. A person who sees the gloomy side of things; pessimist. Also, crepehanger.

Quotes

Ordinarily Encore would have suggested, with amiable malice, that Gottlieb was a "crapehanger" who wasted time destroying the theories of other men instead of making new ones of his own. -- Sinclair Lewis, Arrowsmith, 1925

Origin

Crapehanger is an Americanism with roots in the custom of hanging crepe paper as a sign of mourning. It came into popular usage in the 1920’s. Thanks to: www.dictionary.com