A.Word.A.Day Archives
from https://wordsmith.org/awad
--------
Date: Thu Feb 1 00:01:36 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dragoon
X-Bonus: There is wisdom in turning as often as possible from the familiar to the unfamiliar: it keeps the mind nimble, it kills prejudice, and it fosters humor. -George Santayana, philosopher (1863-1952)
This week's theme: words with hidden animals.
dragoon (druh-GOON) verb tr.
To force someone to do something; coerce.
[From French dragon (dragon, to dragoon).]
This is a good example of how a term transferred from an object to a
people to an action. Originally it referred to the firearms, either
from the fact that they breathed fire like a dragon or from the shape
of the pistol hammer. Eventually it began to be applied to a European
cavalryman armed with a carbine. Today the term is used in the sense
of forcing someone to do something against his or her will.
-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
"Canadians should not be dragooned into going down the same garden
path. We should say no to no-fly lists."
Ground Canada's No-fly List Now; The Gazette (Montreal, Canada);
Jan 16, 2007.
--------
Date: Fri Feb 2 00:01:17 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bulimia
X-Bonus: This is my living faith, an active faith, a faith of verbs: to question, explore, experiment, experience, walk, run, dance, play, eat, love, learn, dare, taste, touch, smell, listen, argue, speak, write, read, draw, provoke, emote, scream, sin, repent, cry, kneel, pray, bow, rise, stand, look, laugh, cajole, create, confront, confound, walk back, walk forward, circle, hide, and seek. To seek: to embrace the questions, be wary of answers. -Terry Tempest Williams, naturalist and author (1955- )
This week's theme: words with hidden animals.
bulimia (boo-LIM-ee-uh, byoo-) noun
1. Excessive or insatiable appetite.
2. An emotional disorder marked by bouts of overeating followed by
purging, by means of self-induced vomiting, laxatives, etc.
[From New Latin bulimia, from Greek boulimia, from bous (ox) + limos
(hunger).]
Literally speaking, bulimia is ox hunger. It's not clear whether it
means one could eat like a bull, or eat a whole bull. It's also known
as boulimia, bulimia nervosa, bulimarexia, binge-purge syndrome.
It's a strange world where some eat and then throw it up, while there
are millions who go to bed hungry, even in a rich nation like the USA.
-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
"Eating disorders are also a daily subject for viewers of the prime-time
soap opera 'The Pages of Our Lives,' in which a 15-year-old ballet
dancer suffers from bulimia, secretly making herself vomit after eating
to keep her weight down."
Brazil Transfixed by 4th Anorexia Death; Associated Press; Dec 27, 2006.
--------
Date: Mon Feb 5 00:01:30 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--proscribe
X-Bonus: My greatest skill has been to want but little. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)
Are you the practical type who looks for words that are immediately usable?
Words such as resistentialism* and petrichor** don't excite you. You'd
rather have no-nonsense words that come in suit and tie, words that you
can put to work right away. You want words that can go into your college
report, office memo, or position paper.
This week we feature a medley of words that could be considered more
employable by those readers. For others, even if you know these words,
their etymologies may be something you'd enjoy.
* https://wordsmith.org/words/resistentialism.html
** https://wordsmith.org/words/petrichor.html
proscribe (pro-SKRYB) verb tr.
1. To forbid something, especially by law.
2. To denounce, condemn, or exile someone.
[From Latin proscribere (to publish in writing, to name someone as outlawed),
from pro- (front) + scribere (write).]
-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
"Tremendous pressure is being brought on the government by some political
parties and organizations to proscribe the LTTE for its atrocities."
Heingo; Ramifications of Banning Political Parties and Organisations;
Sri Lanka Daily Mirror (Colombo); Dec 16, 2006.
--------
Date: Tue Feb 6 00:01:29 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--umbrage
X-Bonus: He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it. -Confucius, philosopher and teacher (c. 551-478 BCE)
This week's theme: a medley of words.
umbrage (UHM-brij) noun
1. Offense or annoyance arising from some insult.
2. Shade, as from a tree.
3. A vague suggestion or a feeling of suspicion.
[From Latin umbra (shade, shadow), which also gave us the words
umbrella, adumbrate, and somber.]
-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
"A number of judges clearly took umbrage at McDowell's comments;
Supreme Court judge Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman implicitly
criticised him from the bench."
Pat Leahy; Judiciary Considers McDowell's Watchdog Proposal;
The Sunday Business Post (Dublin, Ireland); Jan 7, 2007.
--------
Date: Wed Feb 7 00:01:19 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--prepossessing
X-Bonus: A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease. -John Muir, naturalist, explorer, and writer (1838-1914)
This week's theme: a medley of words.
prepossessing (pree-puh-ZES-ing) adjective
Creating a favorable impression; attractive.
[From pre- + possess, from Latin possidere (to occupy, dominate, seize),
from potis (able) + sedere (to sit).]
-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
"A prepossessing performer with a beautiful baritone, Murray is tall,
blond and Midwestern-looking."
F. Kathleen Foley; Not Quite the Last Word on Irving Berlin; The Los
Angeles Times; Jun 27, 2005.
--------
Date: Thu Feb 8 00:01:25 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--taciturn
X-Bonus: Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet. -Roger Miller, musician (1936-1992)
This week's theme: a medley of words.
taciturn (TAS-i-tuhrn) adjective
Temperamentally untalkative.
[From Latin taciturnus (quiet), from tacitus (silent), past participle of
tacere (to be silent).]
-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
"The voiceover may be the best way to express the taciturn main
character's ideas and desires, no matter how awkward it seems."
Daniel Neman; Review: Perfume; Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia);
Jan 5, 2007.
--------
Date: Fri Feb 9 00:01:29 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--profligate
X-Bonus: If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)
This week's theme: a medley of words.
profligate (PROF-li-git, -gayt) adjective
1. Recklessly extravagant; wasteful.
2. Given over to dissipation; dissolute.
noun
A profligate person.
[From Latin profligatus, past participle of profligare (to strike down,
to ruin), from pro- (forth, down) + fligere (to strike).]
-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
"Despite Bank Markazi's tsunami of petrodollars, the IMF has warned
that profligate state spending spells future budget deficits."
Matein Khalid; Iran: Sanctions, Geopolitics and the Economy;
Khaleej Times (Dubai, United Arab Emirates); Jan 7, 2007.
--------
Date: Mon Feb 12 00:01:28 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tocsin
X-Bonus: I am no more lonely than a single mullein or dandelion in a pasture, or a bean leaf, or sorrel, or a horse-fly, or a bumblebee. I am no more lonely than the Mill Brook, or a weathercock, or the north star, or the south wind, or an April shower, or a January thaw, or the first spider in a new house. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)
It's a phonic (and phony) world out there. We have megaphones and
microphones. Megaphones magnify our voice, so why doesn't a microphone
miniaturize it? We have phonograms but they are not the opposite of
gramophones.
Human languages, like humans, are never too logical. Homophones have
nothing to do with Homo sapiens. The former prefix is from Greek homo
meaning "same" while the other is from Latin homo meaning "man".
This week we'll feature five terms that are homophones of everyday words:
toxin, analyst, beaut, bowl, and seed.
tocsin (TOK-sin) noun
An alarm bell or a warning signal.
[From Middle French toquassen, from Proven�al tocasenh, from tocar
(to touch) + senh (bell).]
-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
"In an unprecedented collaboration to sound the tocsin, Nature and
Foreign Affairs have recently devoted special issues to the
'plausible scenario' of a pandemic that kills millions and wrecks
the global economy."
Mike Davis; Avian Flu: A State of Unreadiness; The Nation (New York);
Jul 18, 2005.
--------
Date: Tue Feb 13 00:01:23 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--annalist
X-Bonus: It is an ironic habit of human beings to run faster when we have lost our way. -Rollo May, psychologist (1909-1994)
This week's theme: words that are homophones of everyday words.
annalist (AN-uh-list) noun
A historian, especially a chronicler of yearly events.
[From Latin libri annales (yearly books), from annus (year).
Ultimately from the Indo-European root at- (to go) that is
also the source of annual, annals, annuity, and anniversary.]
-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
"The annalist Ennius mentioned that the Carthaginians habitually
offered their infants to their gods."
Jose S. Arcilla S.J.; Roots; BusinessWorld (Manila, Philippines);
Mar 6, 2006.
--------
Date: Wed Feb 14 00:01:31 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--butte
X-Bonus: For what are stars but asterisks. To point a human life? -Emily Dickinson, poet (1830-1886)
This week's theme: words that are homophones of everyday words.
butte (byoot) noun
An isolated hill rising abruptly from the surrounding area,
having steep sides and a flat top.
[From French butte (mound).]
-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
"The barren buttes surrounding this small ranching town offered
scant places for coyotes to hide as hunters converged."
Matthew Brown; Coyote Hunts Draw Criticism; Associated Press;
Jan 21, 2007
--------
Date: Thu Feb 15 00:01:16 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--boll
X-Bonus: The world is a skirt I want to lift up. -Hanif Kureishi, author (1954- )
This week's theme: words that are homophones of everyday words.
boll (pronounced the same as bowl) noun
The pod of a plant, as that of flax or cotton.
[From Middle English bolle, from Middle Dutch bolle (round).
Ultimately from the Indo-European root bhel- (to thrive or bloom)
that gave us flower, bleed, bless, foliage, blossom, and blade.]
-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
"No precise data are yet available for maize, but early results
suggest that each bat near a cotton plantation saves about ten bolls."
Fear Vandals, Not Vampires; The Economist (London, UK); Jan 4, 2007.
--------
Date: Fri Feb 16 00:01:28 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cede
X-Bonus: All kids are gifted; some just open their packages earlier than others. -Michael Carr
This week's theme: words that are homophones of everyday words.
cede (seed) verb tr.
To yield or to surrender something, such as a territory.
[From Latin cedere (to go or to yield). Ultimately from the
Indo-European root ked- (to go or yield) that's also the ancestor
of exceed, secede, proceed, cease, and necessary.]
-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
"North Korea signed an agreement in the 1960s to cede territorial
rights of about half of the mountain to China."
China Protests Against S. Korean Athletes' Action at Awards Ceremony;
Yohnap News (Seoul, South Korea); Feb 1, 2007.
--------
Date: Mon Feb 19 00:01:21 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pignus
X-Bonus: Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone. -Gladys Bronwyn Stern, writer (1890-1973)
Happy Chinese New Year! This week begins the year of the pig, according
to the Chinese calendar. If you were born in 1995, 1983, 1971, 1959,
1947, 1935, 1923, or 1911, congratulations! This is your year. In Chinese
astrology a pig signifies intelligence, honesty, strength, and fortitude.
It's so unfair that in many cultures pigs symbolize all things uncultured.
In English we have idioms such as to pig out (to overeat), to be pigheaded
(stubborn), to be piggish (greedy or slovenly), to hog (take more than
one's share) -- all reflections of our bias. In truth, pigs are the most
intelligent animals after primates. See more at
http://www.goveg.com/f-hiddenlivespigs.asp
This week we'll celebrate the Chinese New Year with a few porcine words --
words that have little piggies in their spellings.
pignus (PIG-nuhs) noun, plural pignora
1. A pledge.
2. Something held as security for a debt.
[From Latin pignus (pledge).]
-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
"I hear a threat? You hear a pignus of your committal. No more."
Anthony Burgess; A Dead Man in Deptford; Carroll & Graf; 1995.
--------
Date: Tue Feb 20 00:01:22 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--epigamic
X-Bonus: I have a great deal of company in my house; especially in the morning, when nobody calls. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)
This week's theme: porcine words to mark the Chinese new year.
epigamic (ep-i-GAM-ik) adjective
Of or relating to a trait or behavior that attracts a mate.
Examples: In an animal, bright feathers or big antlers.
In a human, a sports car or a big bust.
[From Greek epigamos (marriageable), from epi- (upon) + gamos (marriage).]
-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
"The change from the young, intellectual, epigamic Jays, to the more
diplomatically sophisticated Hendersons also reflected a sharp change
in Washington lifestyle."
Peter D. Carr; It Occurred to Me; Trafford Publishing; 2006.
--------
Date: Wed Feb 21 00:01:22 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pigsney
X-Bonus: Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds in the sky, are best relieved by the letting of a little water. -Christopher Morley, writer (1890-1957)
This week's theme: porcine words to mark the Chinese new year.
pigsney (PIGZ-nee) noun
1. A sweetheart.
2. An eye, especially a small one.
[From Middle English piggesnye (pig's eye).]
-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
"Piers lifted his head out of his nest again and asked, 'Was Ellis in
a fight again?
'Hush, pigsney,' said Rose."
Margaret Frazer; The Servant's Tale; Berkeley Publishing; 1993.
--------
Date: Thu Feb 22 00:01:19 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--epigeal
X-Bonus: Profits, like sausages and laws, are esteemed most by those who know least about what goes into them. -Gary Hector, author and journalist (b. 1951)
This week's theme: porcine words to mark the Chinese new year.
epigeal (ep-i-JEE-uhl) adjective
Living close to the ground, as certain plants.
[From Greek epigeios (on the earth), from epi (upon) + ge (earth).]
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"This nation must not let Denzil Douglas and his incompetent,
all-good-for-themselves ministers bring us, a once successful and
progressive people, to an epigeal existence."
Charles Warne; Energy-saving Bulbs or A Nation-saving Government;
Democrat (St. Kitts and Nevis); Jan 27, 2007.
--------
Date: Fri Feb 23 00:01:25 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--epigone
X-Bonus: Extended empires are like expanded gold, exchanging solid strength for feeble splendor. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784)
This week's theme: porcine words to mark the Chinese new year.
epigone (EP-i-goan) noun
A mediocre imitator or follower of an important artist, writer, etc.
[From French epigone, from Greek epigonoi (child), from epi- (after)
+ gonos, from root of gignesthai (to be born).]
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"Just as [Michael] Arad doesn't want to be pigeonholed as an 'Israeli
architect,' he is loath to appear an epigone of Maya Lin, the designer
of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C."
Michael Z. Wise; At Ground Zero, A Fresh Take; The Los Angeles Times;
Mar 7, 2004.
--------
Date: Mon Feb 26 00:01:13 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--misology
X-Bonus: One of the indictments of civilizations is that happiness and intelligence are so rarely found in the same person. -William Feather, author, editor and publisher (1889-1981)
Little strokes make a letter and those letters come together to form words.
We assign meanings to the words. Often they express simple ideas: tree,
rock, water, and so on. Sometimes a word describes a more complex idea.
Have you ever found yourself wondering, "Wouldn't it be nice if there were
a word for it?" Well, there is a word for almost everything under the sun.
This week we have dug up five words you may not have known existed.
misology (mi-SOL-uh-jee) noun
Hatred of logic or reason.
[From Greek miso- (hate) + -logy (science, study).]
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
Note: Subscribers in the Seattle area are invited to attend the Kirkland
Spelling Bee on Wednesday, February 28. You could even take part in an
"Audience Spells" contest. I selected the words for the bee, and will be
doing a booksigning. Details at https://wordsmith.org/awad/speaking.html
"Fletcher laughed. 'Your coyness smacks of misology. Sinking back down
to that dark place within yourself, the one that you tried so
desperately to suffocate.'"
Chris Mooney; Deviant Ways; Atria; 2000.
--------
Date: Tue Feb 27 00:01:20 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--virga
X-Bonus: People like to imagine that because all our mechanical equipment moves so much faster, that we are thinking faster, too. -Christopher Morley, writer (1890-1957)
This week's theme: There is a word for it.
virga (VUHR-guh) noun
Rain or snow that evaporates before hitting the ground.
[From Latin virga (rod, streak).]
See pictures of virga at
http://weather-photography.com/album.php?cat=clouds&subcat=virga
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"Macduff [Everton]'s images are so physical and tactile, you can
nearly feel the moisture in the virga."
Len Jenshel; 25 All-Time Best Photo Books; National Geographic
Traveler (Washington, DC); Jan/Feb 2005.
--------
Date: Wed Feb 28 00:01:30 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--incunabulum
X-Bonus: A wise man will make haste to forgive, because he knows the true value of time, and will not suffer it to pass away in unnecessary pain. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784)
This week's theme: There is a word for it.
incunabulum (in-kyoo-NAB-yuh-luhm) noun
A book printed during the infancy of printing, especially one
produced before 1501.
[From Latin incunabula (swaddling clothes, cradle), from cunae (cradle,
infancy). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kei- (to lie, bed, dear)
that is also the source of such words as city, cemetery, and Sanskrit
shiva.]
Imagine a newly-born book, swaddled in clothes. Etymology often shows
the poetry of words. Gutenberg operated his pioneering printing press
during the 1450s. Books printed during that time are known as incunabula
though the term can be applied to any work of art or industry from its
early period.
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"The last public sale of a more or less complete copy of 'The Canterbury
Tales' went to J. Paul Getty's Wormsley Library in 1998 for $4.2 million.
We are thus assured that a strong financial incentive remains to preserve
intact incunabula."
Joel Henning; Taking a Leaf From Celebrated Books; The Wall Street Journal
(New York); May 12, 2005.