March 11, 2012
Word of the Day

NONDESCRIPT
audio pronunciation
\nahn-di-SKRIPT\

DEFINITION

adjective
1
: belonging or appearing to belong to no particular class or kind : not easily described
2
: lacking distinctive or interesting qualities : dull, drab

EXAMPLES

The famous spy was a quiet, nondescript man that no one could describe even a few minutes after meeting him, which was clearly an advantage in his profession.

"There is a nondescript warehouse in town with contents so vital to the operations of American businesses and government that it is protected by guards armed with assault rifles." — From an article by Conor Shine in the Las Vegas Sun, November 7, 2011

DID YOU KNOW?

It is relatively easy to describe the origins of "nondescript" (and there's a hint in the first part of this sentence). "Nondescript" was formed by combining the prefix "non-" (meaning "not") with the past participle of the Latin verb "describere," meaning "to describe." It is no surprise, then, that when the word was adopted in the late 17th century by English speakers, it was typically applied to something (such as a genus or species) that had not yet been described. Other descriptive descendants of "describere" in English include "describe," "description," and "descriptive" itself, as well as the rare philosophical term "descriptum" ("something that is described").

March 14, 2012
Word of the Day

VOLPLANE
audio pronunciation
\VAHL-playn\

DEFINITION

verb
1
: to glide in or as if in an airplane
2
a : to descend gradually in controlled flight b : to fly in a glider

EXAMPLES

An eagle soared and volplaned gracefully across the sky.

"Does it [the northern flying squirrel] really fly: No. It glides (or "volplanes") and always in a downward direction. — From an article by Nicholas Read in The Vancouver Sun (British Columbia), October 18, 2008

DID YOU KNOW?

"Vol plané" (meaning "gliding flight") was a phrase first used by 19th-century French ornithologists to describe downward flight by birds; it contrasted with "vol à voile" ("soaring flight"). Around the time Orville and Wilbur Wright were promoting their latest "aeroplane" in France, the noun and the verb "volplane" soared to popularity in America as terms describing the daring dives by aviators (Fly Magazine reported in 1910, "The French flyers are noted for their thrilling spirals and vol planes from the sky"). The avian-to-aviator generalization was fitting, since the Wright brothers had studied the flight of birds in designing their planes.

March 15, 2012
Word of the Day

INSTAURATION
audio pronunciation
\in-staw-RAY-shun\

DEFINITION

noun
1
: restoration after decay, lapse, or dilapidation
2
: an act of instituting or establishing something

EXAMPLES

"Once, humanity dreamed of the great instauration — a rebirth of ancient wisdom that would compel us into a New Age...." — From an article by Knute Berger in the Seattle Weekly, December 14, 2005

"The Thibaut/Savigny conflict, the conflict between two leading professors, led to the instauration of the two law commissions, again composed of professors, which finally paved the way for the adoption of the German Civil Code, some fifty years later." — From an introduction by Hans-W. Micklitz to the 2011 book The Many Concepts of Social Justice in European Private Law

DID YOU KNOW?

"Instauration" first appeared in English in the early 17th century, a product of the Latin verb "instaurare," meaning "to renew or restore." This same source gave us our verb "store," by way of Middle English and Anglo-French. Less than 20 years after "instauration" broke into English, the philosopher Francis Bacon began writing his Instauratio Magna, which translates to The Great Instauration. This uncompleted collection of works, which was written in Latin, calls for a restoration to a state of paradise on earth, but one in which mankind is enlightened by knowledge and truth.

Hum.... Seems like most of the U.S. wants an INSTAURATION Back East!

March 16, 2012
Word of the Day

SECRETE
audio pronunciation
\sih-KREET\

DEFINITION

verb
1
: to deposit or conceal in a hiding place
2
: to appropriate secretly : abstract

EXAMPLES

The squirrel had secreted nuts all over the yard in preparation for winter, and as spring approached, more were still to be found.

"With either engine [the Porsche 911 Cabriolet] is flipping fast, particularly above 4,000 rpm, and it makes all the right noises too, from bellows and wails to enough pops and crackles when you lift off the throttle to make you wonder if somebody has secreted some Rice Krispies up the exhaust." — From a review by Chris Knapman in The Telegraph (United Kingdom), February 15, 2012

DID YOU KNOW?

If you guessed that the secret to the origins of "secrete" is the word "secret," you are correct. "Secrete" was coined in the mid-18th century from a now obsolete verb "secret." That verb had the meaning now carried by "secrete" and derived from the familiar noun "secret" ("something kept hidden or unexplained"). The noun, in turn, traces back to the Latin verb "secernere," meaning "to separate" or "to distinguish." Incidentally, there is an earlier and distinct verb "secrete" with the more scientific meaning "to form and give off (a secretion)." That "secrete" is a back-formation from "secretion," another word that can be traced back to "secernere."

March 17, 2012
Word of the Day

FALLACIOUS
audio pronunciation
\fuh-LAY-shus\

DEFINITION

adjective
1
: embodying a fallacy
2
: tending to deceive or mislead : delusive

EXAMPLES

The notion that disease is caused by malign spirits was known to be fallacious long before germ theory gave us real understanding of disease.

"The whole idea that Romney was responsible for good or bad things in Massachusetts is fallacious — just as it is fallacious that any executive is responsible for the ups and downs of the economy." — University of Michigan political scientist Michael Heaney as quoted by Seth McLaughlin in an article in The Washington Times, February 27, 2012

DID YOU KNOW?

"Oh what a tangled web we weave / When first we practise to deceive!" So wrote Sir Walter Scott in his 1808 poem Marmion. Scott’s line wasn't written with etymology in mind, but it might be applied to the history of "fallacious." That word traces back to the Latin verb "fallere" ("to deceive"), but it passed through a tangle of Latin and French forms before it eventually made its way into English in the early 1500s. Other descendants of "fallere" in English include "fail," "false," and "fault."

March 18, 2012
Word of the Day

SYLPH
audio pronunciation
\SILF\

DEFINITION

noun
1
: an elemental being in the theory of Paracelsus that inhabits air
2
: a slender graceful woman or girl

EXAMPLES

The dancer was a lovely, elegant sylph upon the stage.

"By the time [Whitney Houston's] first album came out, in 1985, she'd been given a thorough makeover: the cover photo showed a sleek-haired, golden-skinned sylph wearing an elegantly-draped white gown." -- From an article by Caroline Sullivan in Guardian Unlimited, February 12, 2012

DID YOU KNOW?

Paracelsus was a man with a vivid imagination. He concocted an elaborate theory of ruling "elemental spirits": gnomes controlled the earth, salamanders fire, undines water, and sylphs (graceful beings whose name in English is from New Latin "sylphus") the air. You would hardly believe this 16th-century German-Swiss physician had his feet on the ground, but those fantastic ideas were balanced with an impressive array of solid medical discoveries. In fact, many of his scientific contributions are still highly respected, but his sylph idea has long since been discounted as fairy-tale fantasy. The creatures remain only as romantic figures of literature, art, and ballet, where diaphanous woodland sylphs are often depicted enchanting unwary males.

March 21, 2012
Word of the Day

TUB-THUMPER
audio pronunciation
\TUB-thump-er\

DEFINITION

noun
: a vociferous supporter (as of a cause)

EXAMPLES

Aunt Lucille was a tub-thumper for temperance who never passed up an opportunity to sermonize fervently on the evils of "demon drink" and the virtues of abstinence.

"As some of you are aware, I've been a frequent tub thumper for winter gardening. In the main, I've promoted it as a means to eating well." — From an article by Chris Smith in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 19, 2008

DID YOU KNOW?

Tub-thumpers are a noisy (and sometimes amusing) lot. The earliest ones were preachers or public speakers with a predisposition for pounding their fists on the pulpit or lectern — perhaps to wake up their listeners! Back in the 17th century, the word "tub" was sometimes used as a synonym of "pulpit"; John Dryden, for example, used the word thus in 1680 when he wrote, "Jack Presbyter shall here erect his throne, Knock out a tub with preaching once a day." "Tub-thumper" has been naming loud, impassioned speakers since at least 1662, when it was used by a writer named Hugh Foulis to describe "a sort of people ... antick in their Devotions…."

March 22, 2012
Word of the Day

OPPUGN
audio pronunciation
\uh-PYOON\

DEFINITION

verb
1
: to fight against
2
: to call in question

EXAMPLES

The local papers have begun to oppugn the candidate's claims, arguing that the facts do not support her statements about her past business ventures.

"Physics Nobel prize winner Carlo Rubbia reacts to reporters ahead of the Nobel Laureates Beijing Forum 2011 in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 26, 2011. World's top physicists including George Smoot and Carlo Rubbia touched upon and oppugned the hot issue that the velocity of light might be exceeded, at the forum on Monday." — From the caption of a photograph on Photoshot.com, September 27, 2011

DID YOU KNOW?

"Oppugn" was first recorded in English in the 15th century. It came to Middle English from the Latin verb "oppugnare," which in turn derived from the combination of "ob-," meaning "against," and "pugnare," meaning "to fight." "Pugnare" itself is descended from the same ancient word that gave Latin the word "pugnus," meaning "fist." It's no surprise, then, that "oppugn" was adopted into English to refer to fighting against something or someone, either physically (as in "the dictatorship will oppugn all who oppose it") or verbally (as in "oppugn an argument"). Other descendants of "pugnare" in English include the equally aggressive "pugnacious," "impugn," "repugnant," and the rare "inexpugnable" ("incapable of being subdued or overthrown").

March 23, 2012
Word of the Day

PIPPIN
audio pronunciation
\PIP-in\

DEFINITION

noun
1
: a crisp tart apple having usually yellow or greenish-yellow skin strongly flushed with red and used especially for cooking
2
: a highly admired or very admirable person or thing

EXAMPLES

The CEO's retirement speech was a pippin.

"[Judge Len Goodman of 'Dancing with the Stars'] said … that the dance was 'first class.... It was crisp, it was sharp, it was like a pippin.'" — From an article by Allyssa Lee in the Los Angeles Times, September 27, 2011

DID YOU KNOW?

Since the late Middle Ages, English speakers have experimented with the use of the word "pippin," which germinated from the Anglo-French word "pepin," meaning "seed" or "pip of a fruit." "Pippin" has been used to refer to a part of a pea embryo, a grain of gold, and a grape, but those uses were not hardy enough to become firmly rooted in the English language. The word did take root, however, in the soil of the northern regions of England, where it is used to describe a small fruit seed. In addition, it has widespread use as the name of a crisp, tart apple and of a person who is unique, usually in a pleasant way.

March 24, 2012
Word of the Day

DEMARCATE
audio pronunciation
\dih-MAHR-kayt\

DEFINITION

verb
1
: to fix or define the limits of : delimit
2
: to set apart : distinguish

EXAMPLES

A crumbling stone wall demarcated the property.

"The war on terrorism has made it hard to demarcate the proper lines between military action and law enforcement, simply because it doesn't resemble traditional wars between national armies." — From an article in the Chicago Tribune, January 3, 2012

DID YOU KNOW?

"Demarcate" is set apart by its unique history. Scholars think it may have descended from the Italian verb "marcare" ("to mark"), which is itself of Germanic origin (the Old High German word for boundary, "marha," is a relative). "Marcare" is the probable source of the Spanish "marcar" (also "to mark"), from which comes the Spanish "demarcar" ("to fix the boundary of"). In 1493, a Spanish noun, "demarcación," was used to name the new meridian dividing the New World territory between Spain and Portugal. Later (about 1730), English speakers began calling this boundary the "line of demarcation," and eventually we began applying that phrase to other dividing lines as well. "Demarcation" in turn gave rise to "demarcate" in the early 19th century.

March 25, 2012
Word of the Day

MULTITUDINOUS
audio pronunciation
\mul-tuh-TOO-duh-nus\

DEFINITION

adjective
1
: including a multitude of individuals
2
: existing in a great multitude
3
: existing in or consisting of innumerable elements or aspects

EXAMPLES

The author's appearance is expected to attract a multitudinous gathering that will fill the entire auditorium.

"The factors between [wine] labels hinge on multitudinous decisions about grape, soil, climate and culture." — From a food review by Mary Ross in the Chicago Daily Herald, November 2, 2011

DID YOU KNOW?

"Multitudinous" is one of many English words that make use of the combining form "multi-," from Latin "multus," meaning "many." "Multicolored," "multifunctional," and "multimillionaire" are just a few of the others. "Multitudinous" is the kind of highly expressive word that you can rely upon when you want something a little more emphatic than plain old "numerous." Among its synonyms are "multiple" and "multifold," two more members of the "multi-" family.

EPAULET
audio pronunciation
\ep-uh-LET\

DEFINITION

noun
a : something that ornaments or protects the shoulder: as b : an ornamental fringed shoulder pad formerly worn as part of a military uniform c : an ornamental strip or loop sewn across the shoulder of a dress or coat

EXAMPLES

"I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance than I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn." — From Henry David Thoreau's 1854 novel Walden

"Military-inspired outerwear: It's baaack — but with a twist. Sharp shoulders and button, zipper, epaulet and grommet details on peacoats, trenches and officer coats add a dose of fashionable force and edge to traditional pieces." — From an article by Sara Bauknecht in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 21, 2012

DID YOU KNOW?

The epaulet gets its name from what it covers — the shoulder. It comes from the French word "épaulette," the diminutive of "épaule," meaning shoulder. (Another accepted spelling of the English word — "epaulette" — mirrors the French.) "Épaule" itself, though, comes from the Latin word "spatha," meaning "spoon" or "sword." This Latin word (which traces back to Greek "spathē," meaning "blade of a sword" or "oar") is also the root of the word "spade" — as in the playing card suit. (The digging implement "spade" is also a relative though the connection is less direct.)