This week’s theme
Coined words

This week’s words
vorpal
consilience
psychobabble
rheology
locavore

---

A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(kuhn-SIL-ee-yuhns)

MEANING:

noun: The linking or agreement of different disciplines when forming a theory or coming to a conclusion.

ETYMOLOGY:

Coined by the philosopher William Whewell (1794-1866). From Latin con- (with) + salire (to leap). Earliest documented use: 1840. He also coined the words scientist and physicist.

USAGE:

“This lucrative sub-industry has further blossomed in recent years due to efforts made by the wealthy founder of the Templeton investment fund, Sir John Templeton, to find harmony and consilience between science and religion. ... Let there be no doubt that as they are currently practiced, there is no common ground between science and religion.”
Paul Kurtz; Science and Religion: Are They Compatible?; Prometheus; 2013.

“A consilience with science offers the humanities many possibilities for new insight.”
Steven Pinker; The Intellectual War on Science; The Chronicle of Higher Education (Washington, DC); Feb 13, 2018.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: