A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Thu Oct 1 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--weft X-Bonus: For there is no friend like a sister / In calm or stormy weather; / To cheer one on the tedious way, / To fetch one if one goes astray, / To lift one if one totters down, / To strengthen whilst one stands. -Christina Rossetti, poet (1830-1894) Short words weft (weft) noun The threads that run across the width of a woven fabric and are interlaced through the warp (threads that run lengthwise). [From Old English wefta (weft). Ultimately from the Indo-European root webh- (to weave; to move quickly), which also gave us weave, webster, waffle, wave, waver, and wobble. Earliest documented use: 725.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/weft "Keevy has woven the threads of jealousy, love, fear, and belonging into a strong weft of intimacy." The Ties That Bind Us Can Be Gossamer Thin; Cape Times (Cape Town, South Africa); May 20, 2015. "It is part of the warp and weft, the action and reaction, of team sport." Will Tipperary Hurlers Crack Waterford Code?; Irish Examiner (Cork, Ireland); Apr 18, 2015. -------- Date: Fri Oct 2 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--quaff X-Bonus: I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet. -Mohandas K. Gandhi (2 Oct 1869-1948) Short words quaff (kwof) verb tr., intr.: To drink deeply. noun: An alcoholic drink; also the act of drinking. [Of unknown origin, probably imitative. Earliest documented use: 1521.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/quaff "The cocktail repertoire includes quaffs spiked with seasonal produce." Fritz Hahn and Becky Krystal; Endless? If Only; The Washington Post; Aug 28, 2015. "Brits quaffing posh bubbly have helped French drinks group Pernod Ricard to merrier profits." Graham Hiscott; Corking Sales of French Fizz; The Daily Mirror (London, UK); Aug 28, 2015. -------- Date: Mon Oct 5 00:01:03 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gannet X-Bonus: Within one linear centimeter of your lower colon there lives and works more bacteria (about 100 billion) than all humans who have ever been born. Yet many people continue to assert that it is we who are in charge of the world. -Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and author (b. 5 Oct 1958) Coleridge had his albatross https://wordsmith.org/words/albatross.html , Poe his raven https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven ; Shelley had his skylark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_a_Skylark , Keats his nightingale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_a_Nightingale . And we have barely begun to explore the literary aviary. Here at A.Word.A.Day we love all our feathery friends. They have their songs, but we are partial to the words they give us: canard (from duck) https://wordsmith.org/words/canard.html to kibitzer (from lapwing) https://wordsmith.org/words/kibitzer.html to gossamer (from goose) https://wordsmith.org/words/gossamer.html and beyond. This week we'll look at five other words that are derived from birds. Call them bird words. gannet (GAN-it) noun 1. A large seabird known for catching fish by diving from a height. 2. A greedy person. [From Old English ganot. Ultimately from the Indo-European root ghans- (goose), which also gave us goose, gosling, gander, and gunsel https://wordsmith.org/words/gunsel.html . Earliest documented use: before 1000. Gannets' reputation for being greedy isn't deserved though. See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2337015/Why-gannet-isnt-really-gannet-Seabirds-stick-fishing-grounds-avoid-birds-patches.html .] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/gannet https://wordsmith.org/words/images/gannet_large.jpg Photo: David Eccles https://www.flickr.com/photos/104848468@N08/18495185869/ "Michael Buerk -- I am afraid there is no delicate way to put this -- is a gannet. He steals the very food from your plate. I recall one meal when he had polished off his own steak while I was eating rather more delicately. 'Don't you want the rest of that?' he asked. And before I could answer, it was gone. -Broadcaster John Humphrys." The Things They Say...; The Western Morning News (Plymouth, UK); Dec 8, 2014. "You're going to have to pace yourself. Nobody likes a gannet, even at a buffet." Gareth May; The Ultimate Buffet Etiquette Guide; China Daily (Beijing); July 11, 2015. -------- Date: Tue Oct 6 00:01:03 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--snipe X-Bonus: It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy. -George H. Lorimer, editor (6 Oct 1867-1937) This week's theme: Bird words snipe (snyp) noun: 1. Any of various long-billed birds inhabiting marshy areas. 2. A shot from a concealed position. verb intr.: 1. To shoot from a concealed position. 2. To criticize in a harsh and unfair way, especially anonymously. [Probably of Scandinavian origin. The shooting sense comes from the practice of snipe hunting. Earliest documented use: 1325.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/snipe https://wordsmith.org/words/images/snipe_large.jpg Photo: Sindri Skúlason https://www.flickr.com/photos/sindri_skulason/5697477479/ "When a Politico reporter asked last month how he endured constant sniping from his own party, Boehner said: 'Garbage men get used to the smell of bad garbage. Prisoners learn how to become prisoners.'" Doyle McManus; Boehner's Happiest Moment; Los Angeles Times; Sep 27, 2015. "A former Official IRA member described the attack as a reflex action: 'Anybody who had planned a snipe from that position would have literally been taking his life in his hands.'" Gary Kelly; Bloody Sunday Tribunal to Delay Legal Action Against McGuinness; Irish Examiner (Cork, Ireland); Nov 7, 2003. -------- Date: Wed Oct 7 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dodo X-Bonus: Writing is thinking on paper. -William Zinsser, writer and editor (7 Oct 1922-2015) This week's theme: Bird words dodo (DO-do) noun 1. An extinct, flightless bird from Mauritius, related to the pigeon but of the size of a turkey. 2. Someone or something that is old-fashioned, ineffective, or outdated. 3. A stupid person. [From Portuguese doudo/doido (silly, fool). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ors- (buttocks) which also gave us ass, cynosure https://wordsmith.org/words/cynosure.html , and squirrel https://wordsmith.org/words/squirrelly.html . Earliest documented use: 1628.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/dodo Dodo (center) among Indian birds: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/dodo_large.jpg Art: Ustad Mansur, c. 1625 "When the spotlight fell on Alvaro Morata, it shone on a dandy not a dodo." Graham Hunter; Magical Morata Shows He is Seriously Good; Mail on Sunday (London, UK); Sep 20, 2015. "But the government should have little reason to believe a broadcasting and telecommunications regulator is a dodo." Kate Taylor; S ex, Television and Canadian Content Rules; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Dec 27, 2014. -------- Date: Thu Oct 8 00:01:03 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--magpie X-Bonus: We must learn to honor excellence in every socially accepted human activity, however humble the activity, and to scorn shoddiness, however exalted the activity. An excellent plumber is infinitely more admirable than an incompetent philosopher. The society that scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water. -John W. Gardner, author and leader (8 Oct 1912-2002) This week's theme: Bird words magpie (MAG-py) noun 1. Any of various birds, typically having a long tail and black-and-white plumage; also various other birds that resemble a magpie. 2. A chatterer. 3. A person who indiscriminately collects things, especially things of little value. [From Mag (a nickname for Margaret) + pie (magpie), from Latin pica (magpie). The use of the name Mag is from the stereotypical association of women with chattering. Magpies have an (undeserved https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/wild-things/magpies-don%E2%80%99t-shiny-things ) reputation for chattering and hoarding, but they are some of the most intelligent animals. Two other words coined after them are pied https://wordsmith.org/words/pied.html and pica https://wordsmith.org/words/pica.html . Earliest documented use: 1589.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/magpie https://wordsmith.org/words/images/magpie_large.jpg Photo: bzd1 https://www.flickr.com/photos/bzd1/16769555305/ "Where Forrest is spare with his words, Mayorga is a magpie." Steve Hummer; Brash, Swaggering and Hungry 'El Matador' is Ready for Forrest Rematch; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia); Jul 10, 2003. "I've recently started collecting china teacups and teapots. I don't use them, but just keep them in a cabinet. I'm a bit of a magpie." The World of Amanda Abbington, Actress; Telegraph Magazine (London, UK); Sep 19, 2015. -------- Date: Fri Oct 9 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dotterel X-Bonus: Imagine there's no countries, / It isn't hard to do. / Nothing to kill or die for, / And no religion, too. / Imagine all the people / Living life in peace. -John Lennon, musician (9 Oct 1940-1980) This week's theme: Bird words dotterel (DOT-uhr-uhl) noun 1. Any of various plovers breeding in mountainous areas. 2. Someone who is easily duped. [From dote (to be weak-minded from old age), from Middle English doten (to be foolish) + -rel (diminutive or pejorative suffix), as in doggerel https://wordsmith.org/words/doggerel.html and wastrel https://wordsmith.org/words/wastrel.html . The metaphorical sense of the word derives from the apparently unsuspecting nature of the bird. Earliest documented use: 1440.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/dotterel https://wordsmith.org/words/images/dotterel_large.jpg Photo: Tom Dean https://www.flickr.com/photos/65794870@N04/14301480065 "A willowy young creature walked down the stairs from the rooms above, holding on to the arm of some old dotterel who had no doubt been duped into imagined vigour." David Ashton; Inspector McLevy Mysteries: Omnibus; Polygon; 2015. -------- Date: Mon Oct 12 00:01:03 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ambit X-Bonus: Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave and it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way. -Alice Childress, playwright, author, and actor (12 Oct 1916-1994) They are called hooks. And they are one of the best ways to increase your score in a game of Scrabble. A hook is when you add a letter at the beginning or at the end of a word. For example, if the board has the word VERY, you can add E at the beginning to make EVERY. This week's words in A.Word.A.Day can all take a hook. Can you find them? Enjoy the hooks, but be careful. You never know when a little harmless WORDPLAY can turn into dangerous SWORDPLAY. ambit (AM-bit) noun Scope, range, limit, or boundary. [From Latin ambitus (going around), from ambire (to go around), from ambi- (both, around) + ire (to go). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ei- (to go), which also gave us exit, transit, circuit, itinerary, obituary, adit https://wordsmith.org/words/adit.html , and arrant https://wordsmith.org/words/arrant.html . Earliest documented use: 1398.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ambit "President Buhari acted within the ambit of the law by taking his time to do a thorough job." Agenda for New Ministers; The Sun (Lagos, Nigeria); Oct 2, 2015. -------- Date: Tue Oct 13 00:01:04 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--peculate X-Bonus: Life is a four-letter word. -Lenny Bruce, comedian and social critic (13 Oct 1925-1966) This week's theme: Words with hooks peculate (PEK-yuh-layt) verb tr., intr. To steal or misuse money or property entrusted to one's care. [From Latin pecu (cattle, money). Ultimately from the Indo-European root peku- (wealth), which also gave us fee, fief, fellow, peculiar, impecunious https://wordsmith.org/words/impecunious.html , and pecuniary https://wordsmith.org/words/pecuniary.html . Earliest documented use: 1715.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/peculate "A second figure, a major named Liu Bu, confessed to having peculated 1,700 to 1,800 taels from the purchase of materiel and another 3,000 taels from bribes, gifts, and unreported surpluses on construction jobs." Randall A. Dodgen; Controlling the Dragon; University of Hawaii Press; 2001. -------- Date: Wed Oct 14 00:01:05 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--resumptive X-Bonus: I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because once I have persuaded him he will stick. If I scare him, he will stay just as long as he is scared, and then he is gone. -Dwight D. Eisenhower, US general and 34th president (14 Oct 1890-1969) This week's theme: Words with hooks resumptive (ri-ZUHMP-tiv) adjective Tending to resume, repeat, or summarize. [From Latin resumere (to resume), from re- (again) + sumere (to take). Earliest documented use: 1398.] "'At the time of the robo-signing controversy last year, we stopped doing all foreclosures and then started reviewing them all in December,' said Bank of America spokesman Rick Simon. 'We're still in that resumptive process and a lot of the slowdown you see now is left over from last year.'" Patrick May; Foreclosures in Silicon Valley Remain Stubbornly Slow; Oakland Tribune (California); May 18, 2011. -------- Date: Thu Oct 15 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--uberous X-Bonus: The higher we soar the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly. -Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, philosopher (15 Oct 1844-1900) This week's theme: Words with hooks uberous (YOO-buhr-uhs) adjective Abundant; fruitful. [From Latin uber (rich, fruitful, abundant, etc.). Earliest documented use: 1624.] "School Principal lauded the Primary teachers for their uberous contribution in preparing the small kids for their best presentations." Vishwa Bharati Celebrates Janam Ashtami; Early Times (India); Sep 2, 2015. -------- Date: Fri Oct 16 00:01:07 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--olio X-Bonus: Who, being loved, is poor? -Oscar Wilde, writer (16 Oct 1854-1900) This week's theme: Words with hooks olio (OH-lee-oh) noun A miscellaneous collection of things, for example, a variety show. [From Spanish olla (pot, stew), from Latin olla (pot). Earliest documented use: 1642. Also see olla podrida https://wordsmith.org/words/olla_podrida.html .] "I will launch into an olio of malapropisms, bad abbreviations, similar words that tend to be used interchangeably." All right, Already! Today You Get Plenty of Options; Daily Herald (Illinois); Sep 13, 2015. https://wordsmith.org/words/malapropism.html -------- Date: Mon Oct 19 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hogen-mogen X-Bonus: A man of courage never needs weapons, but he may need bail. -Lewis Mumford, writer and philosopher (19 Oct 1895-1990) This past August I visited the Netherlands. I didn't bring back wooden clogs -- no one wears them any more, not even the Dutch. I didn't bring back the green stuff from Amsterdam -- I don't use it. This wasn't the tulip (from Persian dulband: turban, from the resemblance of the flower to a turban) season. But words are always in season, and I have brought back some unusual Dutch words that are now part of the English language. Thousands of English words have their origin in Dutch, either directly or via other languages: beleaguer https://wordsmith.org/words/beleaguer.html cashier https://wordsmith.org/words/cashier.html scrabble https://wordsmith.org/words/scrabble.html slipstream https://wordsmith.org/words/slipstream.html wiseacre https://wordsmith.org/words/wiseacre.html This week we'll look at some of the more colorful words that have come to us from Dutch. Look for my travel reports from the trip in the weekly AWADmail for the next few weeks. hogen-mogen (HOH-guhn-moh-guhn) noun: A person having or affecting high power. adjective: Powerful; grand. [From Dutch hoogmogend (all powerful), from Hooge en Mogende (high and mighty), honorific for addressing States General (legislature) of the Netherlands. Earliest documented use: 1639.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/hogen-mogen_large.jpg Art: Bob Staake "She's all grand hogen-mogen one minute and a flirting flibbergib the next." Peter S. Beagle; Tamsin; Penguin; 1999. -------- Date: Tue Oct 20 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--toenadering X-Bonus: No man's credit is as good as his money. -E.W. Howe, novelist and editor (1853-1937) This week's theme: Words with Dutch connections toenadering (TOO-nah-duhr-ing) noun Establishing or reestablishing of cordial relations, especially between nations. [From Dutch toenadering (advance, approach), from toe (to) + nader (closer). Earliest documented use: 1920.] NOTES: The term is typically seen in South Africa, but it's worth adopting everywhere. The French equivalent is rapprochement https://wordsmith.org/words/rapprochement.html . President Raúl Castro of Cuba and President Barack Obama https://wordsmith.org/words/images/toenadering_large.jpg Photo: The White House https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/20283643273/ "The party and the labour federation may seem to be on the same page in opposing e-tolling, but don't hold your breath for a toenadering even on this front." Cosatu and DA Lock Horns; The Argus (Cape Town, South Africa); Mar 17, 2012. -------- Date: Wed Oct 21 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--poppycock X-Bonus: There is one art of which man should be master, the art of reflection. -Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet (21 Oct 1772-1834) This week's theme: Words with Dutch connections poppycock (POP-ee-kok) noun Nonsense. [From Dutch dialect pappekak (soft dung) or poppekak (doll's excrement). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kakka-/kaka- (to defecate) which also gave us cacophony, cacography https://wordsmith.org/words/cacography.html , and cucking stool http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucking_stool . Earliest documented use: 1852.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/poppycock There's no accounting for taste in naming a product https://wordsmith.org/words/images/poppycock.jpg http://amazon.com/o/asin/B0011FDXG6/ws00-20 "The idea that what we do in the ballot box does not affect our daily lives is pure poppycock." Brian Greenspun; Hearing from the Greatest Generation; McClatchy-Tribune Business News (Washington, DC); Apr 13, 2014. -------- Date: Thu Oct 22 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sooterkin X-Bonus: Think for yourself and question authority. -Timothy Leary, psychologist and writer (22 Oct 1920-1996) This week's theme: Words with Dutch connections sooterkin (SOO-tuhr-kin) noun 1. A sweetheart or mistress. 2. An afterbirth formerly believed to be gotten by Dutch women by warming themselves on stoves. 3. Something imperfect or unsuccessful. [Apparently from Dutch zoet (sweet). Earliest documented use: 1530.] The Sooterkin, a novel http://www.amazon.com/The-Sooterkin-Tom-Gilling/dp/0670891525 "sooterkin, my twin how oft I see you in dark corners of this room so like our early home, a hot dark womb" Alison Calder; Wolf Tree; Coteau Books; 2007. "Dr. Maubray even claimed that he had seen and delivered a sooterkin when he was traveling on a ferry from Harlingen to Amsterdam and a woman fell into labor on board." Jan Bondeson; A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities; W.W. Norton; 1999. -------- Date: Fri Oct 23 00:01:05 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--brabble X-Bonus: Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand. -Emily Kimbrough, author and broadcaster (23 Oct 1899-1989) This week's theme: Words with Dutch connections brabble (BRAB-uhl) verb intr. To argue over petty matters. [From Middle Dutch brabbelen (to quarrel or jabber). Earliest documented use: 1500.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/brabble https://wordsmith.org/words/images/brabble_large.jpg Photo: Chris Lue Shing https://www.flickr.com/photos/ccimaging/14012687264/ "One can't help but compare Sr. Toni's written brabbling on the one hand, with the actual deeds of the brave Christian women who put their lives on the line in Afghanistan on the other hand." Joseph P. Zwack; Transfer of Power Not Peaceful; Telegraph-Herald (Dubuque, Iowa); Jan 17, 2002. -------- Date: Mon Oct 26 00:01:03 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--anodyne X-Bonus: I have a trunk containing continents. -Beryl Markham, adventurer (26 Oct 1902-1986) The novelist Evelyn Waugh once said, "One forgets words as one forgets names. One's vocabulary needs constant fertilizing or it will die." Here at Wordsmith.org we do our best to fertilize, water, and refresh your vocabulary. If you can find a way to link words it makes it even easier to remember them. That's what we are going to do this week -- feature five miscellaneous words connected by their usage examples. anodyne (AN-uh-dyn) adjective: 1. Relieving pain; soothing. 2. Bland or insipid: not likely to provoke or offend. noun: 1. Something that soothes or comforts. 2. A medicine that relieves pain. [From Latin anodynos, from Greek anodynos, from a- (not) + odyne (pain). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ed- (to eat, to bite), which also gave us edible, comestible, obese, etch, fret, postprandial https://wordsmith.org/words/postprandial.html , esurient https://wordsmith.org/words/esurient.html , and edacity https://wordsmith.org/words/edacity.html . Earliest documented use: 1543.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/anodyne "The interview, while engaging, was anodyne and strangely emollient, entirely without any edge." TV: Shelving the Misery Memoirs; Sunday Business Post (Cork, Ireland); May 18, 2014. -------- Date: Tue Oct 27 00:01:03 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--salacious X-Bonus: A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad. -Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US president (27 Oct 1858-1919) This week's theme: Miscellaneous words salacious (suh-LAY-shuhs) adjective 1. Obscene. 2. Lustful. [From Latin salax (lustful, fond of leaping), from salire (to leap). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sel- (to jump), which also gave us salient, sally, sauté, assail, assault, exult, insult, result, somersault, resile https://wordsmith.org/words/resile.html , desultory https://wordsmith.org/words/desultory.html , and saltant https://wordsmith.org/words/saltant.html . Earliest documented use: 1661.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/salacious "Billed as a salacious 'kick and tell', early indications (of the book Lucky Jack) suggest an anodyne lack of revelation." Lucky Jack; Sunday Times (London, UK); Jul 24, 2005. -------- Date: Wed Oct 28 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--probity X-Bonus: When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes. -Desiderius Erasmus, philosopher, humanist, and theologian (28 Oct 1466-1536) This week's theme: Miscellaneous words probity (PRO-bi-tee) noun Integrity and honesty. [From Latin probus (upright, good). Ultimately from the Indo-European root per- (forward), which also gave us paramount, prime, proton, prow https://wordsmith.org/words/prow.html , German Frau (woman), and Hindi purana (old). Earliest documented use: 1425.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/probity "Mark Steel recalled ... rifling through his grandfather's text-books for salacious descriptions of murders and adultery. His early trust in the probity of the police and the judiciary was later to be shaken from its foundations, and he offered some robust statements of his disgust that police officers are rarely prosecuted for fabricating or manipulating evidence." Tom Lappin; A Pleasing Marriage of Surreal Wit and Wisdom; The Scotsman (Edinburgh, UK); Aug 18, 2003. -------- Date: Thu Oct 29 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rectitude X-Bonus: He who has provoked the lash of wit, cannot complain that he smarts from it. -James Boswell, biographer and lawyer (29 Oct 1740-1795) This week's theme: Miscellaneous words rectitude (REK-ti-tood, -tyood) noun 1. Moral uprightness. 2. Correctness. 3. Straightness. [From Latin rectus (right, straight). Ultimately from the Indo-European root reg- (to move in a straight line, to lead or rule) that also gave us regime, direct, rectangle, erect, alert, source, surge, recto https://wordsmith.org/words/recto.html , abrogate https://wordsmith.org/words/abrogate.html , arrogate https://wordsmith.org/words/arrogate.html , incorrigible https://wordsmith.org/words/incorrigible.html , interregnum https://wordsmith.org/words/interregnum.html , prorogue https://wordsmith.org/words/prorogue.html , regent https://wordsmith.org/words/regent.html , regnant https://wordsmith.org/words/regnant.html , and supererogatory https://wordsmith.org/words/supererogatory.html . Earliest documented use: 1425.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/rectitude "Manohar has maintained an image of rectitude and financial probity that in today's age can be seen as a modern marvel." Shashank Manohar: A Cricket Administrator with an Unbending Will; The Hindustan Times (New Delhi, India); Oct 5, 2015. -------- Date: Fri Oct 30 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--emollient X-Bonus: Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree. -Ezra Pound, poet (30 Oct 1885-1972) This week's theme: Miscellaneous words emollient (i-MOL-yuhnt) adjective: Soothing or softening. noun: Something that soothes or softens. [From Latin emollire (to soften), from ex- (intensive prefix) + mollire (to soften), from mollis (soft). Ultimately from the same Indo-European root mel- (soft) as words such as malt, melt, mollify, smelt, enamel, schmaltz https://wordsmith.org/words/schmaltz.html, and moil https://wordsmith.org/words/moil.html . Earliest documented use: 1643.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/emollient "The supremely emollient Kaiser loves these figures, announcing them to me with a great beam of fiscal rectitude." Bryan Appleyard; The Opera Ain't Over...; Sunday Times (London, UK); Jul 16, 2000.