A.Word.A.Day --agerasia

A.Word.A.Day

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Oct 21, 2019

This week’s theme
There’s a word for it

This week’s words
agerasia
aposiopesis
marcescent
rupestral
proditomania

Previous week’s theme
Words coined after days of the week

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Are you worried you’ll run out of words one day?

Someone asked me that recently. And I’m about as worried as pianists might worry they’ll run out of music to play or artists that they’ll run out of things to paint.

The English language has a zillion or gazillion words, depending on how you count. And we keep pouring new words into it. Building words up like Legos, coining words after people, freely taking any words we like from other languages, repurposing existing words, and more.

Where are all these words hiding, you might think, when you feel at a loss for words. Fear not, we have dived into the dictionary and brought you some words that might come in handy some day. Add them to your personal word bin.

agerasia

PRONUNCIATION:

(a-juh-RAY-zhuh)

MEANING:

noun: Not growing old, or looking younger than one’s age.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin agerasia, from Greek agerasia, from geras (old age), which also gave us gerontology. Earliest documented use: 1706.

NOTES:

Do people tell you you look ten years younger than you really are? There’s chronological age, determined by when you were born, totally out of your control. Then there’s biological age (calculate it), which is how well you have aged, and it is quite likely up to you.
If you have ever wanted a word to describe that youthful look you have maintained from regular exercise, healthful eating, and conscientious living, your wish is granted. As for actually not growing old, you ask too much.

USAGE:

“Nahla Syrup stood and smiled warmly. She looked like Desdemona and not a whole lot older, though I attributed her agerasia to flawless skin, bright eyes, and the SpongeBob earrings that dangled from her ears.”
Daphne Uviller; Wife of the Day; Brownstone Books; 2016.

See more usage examples of agerasia in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy? -Ursula K. Le Guin, author (21 Oct 1929-2018)

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