Word Of The Day

• svelte
• 
• \SVELT\

• DEFINITION

adjective

1

a : slender, litheb : having even and smooth lines : sleek

2

: urbane, suave

• EXAMPLES

The TV star posted an online photo of herself, looking svelte in a figure-hugging dress.

"A trim, more svelte typeface on federal documents would slash the government's ink expenses and could save taxpayers more than $100 million a year in printing costs, an O'Hara-based researcher has found." — From an article by Adam Smeltz in thePittsburgh Tribune Review, March 29, 2014

• DID YOU KNOW?

"Svelte" came to us, by way of French, from Italian "svelto," which itself comes from the Italian verb "svellere," meaning "to pluck out" or "to pull or stretch out." In English "svelte" has been used since the early 19th century to describe a slender appearance, as in A.B. Granville's 1838 description of a countess who was "tall, svelte, pale, and interesting." By the 20th century, English speakers had stretched the word's meaning to suggest an urbane or suave nature—as poet Ezra Pound did when he described "svelte Verona," a city he visited in north Italy.

Word Of The Day

• fiscal
• 
• \FISS-kul\

• DEFINITION

adjective

1

: of or relating to taxation, public revenues, or public debt

2

: of or relating to financial matters

• EXAMPLES

The governor was harshly criticized by his opponent for not showing more fiscal restraint during the slow economic recovery.

"Let's remember that fiscal policy, or rather the financial management of the government, has two sides, expenditures and revenues." — From an opinion column by Gerald Petersen inThe News-Press (Fort Myers, Florida), March 21, 2014

• DID YOU KNOW?

"Fiscal" derives from the Latin noun "fiscus," meaning "basket" or "treasury." In ancient Rome, "fiscus" was the term for the treasury controlled by the emperor, where the money was literally stored in baskets and was collected primarily in the form of revenue from the provinces. "Fiscus" also gives us our word "confiscate," which now means "to seize" but once referred to the forfeiting of private property to public use. Today we find "fiscal" in a number of phrases, including "fiscal year" (referring to a 12-month accounting period not necessarily coinciding with the calendar year) and "fiscal cliff," a term that rose to prominence in the U.S. in 2012 when much attention was focused on a series of anticipated year-end tax increases and spending cuts.

Word Of The Day

• bonnyclabber
• 
• \BAH-nee-klab-er\

• DEFINITION

noun

: sour milk that has thickened or curdled

• EXAMPLES

When Grandma was a little girl, one of her jobs was to feed thebonnyclabber to the chickens.

"Robert Hale of Beverly, Massachusetts, washed up at the Cyr place in 1731. After a meal of bonnyclabber (a curdled milk dish akin to yogurt), fish, soup, and bread, he witnessed 'some of the Family on their Knees paying their Devotions to the Almighty.'" — From Christopher Hodson's 2012 book The Acadian Diaspora

• DID YOU KNOW?

In Irish Gaelic, "bainne clabair" means "thickened milk." In English, the equivalent word is "bonnyclabber." Whether or not this bonnyclabber is "the bravest, freshest drink you ever tasted" (as the English Earl of Strafford enthused in 1635) or "would make a hungry parson caper" (to quote English poet Thomas Ward in 1716), it has been a part of country folks' diets for many a year. Today, you might see "bonnyclabber" as a recommended substitute for buttermilk in a recipe for Irish soda bread (complete with directions for making your own bonnyclabber). The American version of bonnyclabber, brought to U.S. shores by Scotch-Irish immigrants, often goes one step further in the thickening process to produce something more akin to cottage cheese.

Word Of The Day

• inkhorn
• 
• \INK-horn\

• DEFINITION

adjective

: ostentatiously learned : pedantic

• EXAMPLES

Richard's use of inkhorn terminology in his paper didn't impress his professor, whereas simple language demonstrating a clear understanding of the material would have done the trick.

"It was not until the 18th century that dictionary-makers began to include everyday words and weed out the weighty-soundinginkhorn terms." — From an article by Faye Carney in The Times Educational Supplement, September 23, 2005

• DID YOU KNOW?

Picture an ancient scribe, pen in hand, a small ink bottle made from an animal's horn strapped to his belt, ready to record the great events of history. In 14th-century England, such ink bottles were dubbed (not surprisingly) "inkhorns." During the Renaissance, learned writers often borrowed words from Latin and Greek, eschewing vulgar English alternatives. But in the 16th century, some scholars argued for the use of native terms over Latinate forms, and a lively intellectual debate over the merits of each began. Those who favored English branded what they considered ostentatious Latinisms "inkhorn terms" after the bottles carried by scholars, and since then we have used "inkhorn" as an adjective for Latinate or pretentious language.

Word Of The Day

• mangle
• 
• \MANG-gul\

• DEFINITION

verb

1

: to injure with deep disfiguring wounds by cutting, tearing, or crushing

2

: to spoil, injure, or make incoherent especially through ineptitude

• EXAMPLES

The band thoroughly mangled their cover of the classic rock anthem.

"When Sanchez was put into that preseason game against the Giants in the fourth quarter in August—behind a backup offensive line—and got his right shoulder mangled, how often did you hear Sanchez complain? Never." — From an article by Mark Cannizzaro in The New York Post, March 23, 2014

• DID YOU KNOW?

Today's word isn't the only "mangle" in English. We also have the noun "mangle" ("a machine for ironing laundry by passing it between heated rollers") and its related verb ("to press or smooth with a mangle"). There's no etymological relationship, however, between these two and the "mangle" that means "to mutilate or bungle." The ironing-related homographs come from Dutch and ultimately from a Late Latin word for a military engine used to hurl missiles. The injury-related "mangle" comes from Anglo-French and may be a descendant of "mahaigner," which means "to maim" and is an ancestor of the English words "maim" and "mayhem."

Word Of The Day

• truckle
• 
• \TRUK-ul\

• DEFINITION

verb

: to act in a subservient manner : submit

• EXAMPLES

Duane eventually lost his job because he was unwilling totruckle to his managers and participate in their often illegal schemes.

"An ever-increasing number of residents are increasingly angry at the City's truckling to business interests.…" — From an article by Peggy Clifford in the Santa Monica Dispatch, November 14, 2013

• DID YOU KNOW?

When "truckle" was first used in English in the 15th century, it meant "small wheel" or "pulley." Such small wheels were often attached to the underside of low beds, to allow them to be easily moved under high beds for storage. These beds came to be known as "truckle beds" (or "trundle beds"), and a verb "truckle"—meaning "to sleep in a truckle bed"—came into being. By the 17th century, the fact that truckle beds were pushed under larger standard beds had inspired a figurative sense of "truckle": "to yield to the wishes of another" or "to bend obsequiously." The initial verb meaning became obsolete; the newer sense is fairly rare but is still in use.

Word Of The Day

• fissiparous
• 
• \fih-SIP-uh-rus\

• DEFINITION

adjective

1

: tending to break up into parts

2

: creating disunity or dissension : divisive

• EXAMPLES

The election for class president had a fissiparous effect on the school as students took sides for their favorite candidate.

"In Calvinism: A History, D.G. Hart … shows how Protestantism'sfissiparous nature has allowed it to adapt and, in some instances, transmogrify to fit local and personal needs." — From a book review by Michael P. Orsi in the Washington Times(Washington D.C.), December 12, 2013

• DID YOU KNOW?

When it first entered English in the 19th century, "fissiparous" was concerned with reproduction. In biology, a fissiparous organism is one that produces new individuals by fission; that is, by dividing into separate parts, each of which becomes a unique organism. (Most strains of bacteria do this.) Both "fissiparous" and "fission" trace back to Latin "findere" ("to split"). The second part of "fissiparous" is rooted in Latin "parere" ("to give birth to" or "to produce"). Other "parere" offspring refer to other forms of reproduction, including "oviparous" ("producing eggs that hatch outside the body") and "viviparous" ("producing living young instead of eggs"). By the end of the 19th century "fissiparous" had acquired a figurative meaning, describing something that breaks into parts or causes something else to break into parts.

Word Of The Day

• bas-relief
• 
• \bah-rih-LEEF\

• DEFINITION

noun

: sculptural relief in which the projection from the surrounding surface is slight and no part of the modeled form is undercut; also : sculpture executed in bas-relief

• EXAMPLES

Jamal admired the bas-reliefs carved into the walls of the ancient Assyrian palace.

"Nearly 50 people … came to the unveiling on Friday afternoon and watched as Mayor Marina Khubesrian and Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, pulled the covering off the bas-relief to reveal a father reading to his three daughters." — From an article by Zen Vuong in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune (California), March 22, 2014

• DID YOU KNOW?

The best way to understand the meaning of "bas-relief" is to see one—and the easiest way to do that is to pull one out of your pocket. Just take out a penny, nickel, or other coin and examine the raised images on it; they're all bas-reliefs. English speakers adopted "bas-relief" from French (where "bas" means "low" and "relief" means "raised work") during the mid-1600s. A few decades earlier, we also borrowed the synonymous "basso-relievo" from Italian. The French and Italian terms have common ancestors (and, in fact, the French word is likely a translation of the Italian), but English speakers apparently borrowed the two independently. "Bas-relief" is more prevalent in English today, although the Italian-derived term has not disappeared completely from the language.

Word Of The Day

• cock-a-hoop
• 
• \kah-kuh-HOOP\

• DEFINITION

adjective

1

: triumphantly boastful : exulting

2

: awry

• EXAMPLES

The driver's pit crew was cock-a-hoop as they watched her cross the finish line to victory lane.

"The cock-a-hoop pride and sensitivity of these former colonials were mere annoyances, almost impossible to take seriously for a nation with a world war to win." — From Patricia Brady's 2011 book A Being So Gentle: The Frontier Love Story of Rachel and Andrew Jackson

• DID YOU KNOW?

The adjective "cock-a-hoop" comes from a curious 16th- and 17th-century expression, "to set cock a hoop," which meant "to be festive" or "to drink or celebrate without restraint." Etymologists, however, are not entirely certain about the origin of that old expression. Although no one knows if it originally had any connection with the "rooster" sense of "cock," many people thought it did—and this perceived association influenced the current meaning of "cock-a-hoop." The cock is known for its triumphant crow, and "cock-a-hoop" is now used to refer to something triumphantly boastful.

Word Of The Day

• minutia
• 
• \muh-NOO-shee-uh\

• DEFINITION

noun

: a minute or minor detail

• EXAMPLES

The self-help book said it was easy to get bogged down in theminutiae of everyday life and fail to notice important opportunities.

"Jackson, though, is smart enough to hire people to figure out salary caps and contract minutia." — From a column by Tim Dahlberg via the Associated Press, March 18, 2014

• DID YOU KNOW?

"Minutia" was borrowed into English in the late 18th century from the Latin plural noun "minutiae," meaning "trifles" or "details" and derived from the singular noun "minutia," meaning "smallness." In English, "minutia" is most often used in the plural as either "minutiae" or, on occasion, as simply "minutia" (as illustrated in our second example sentence). Latin "minutia," incidentally, comes from "minutus," an adjective meaning "small" that was created from the verb "minuere," meaning "to lessen." A familiar descendant of "minutus" is "minute."

Word Of The Day

• cockamamy
• 
• \kah-kuh-MAY-mee\

• DEFINITION

adjective

: ridiculous, incredible

• EXAMPLES

Ted missed the meeting again, phoning the receptionist with some cockamamy excuse.

"Colin Farrell is good in this time-traveling romance, but it's tastefully cockamamie and increasingly gloppy." — From a movie listing in The Hartford Courant (Connecticut), February 20, 2014

• DID YOU KNOW?

By the look and sound of it, "cockamamy" (also spelled "cockamamie") seems like an arbitrarily coined nonsense word—but a reasonable explanation for its origin exists. Supposedly, "cockamamy" is an altered form of the term "decalcomania," which denotes a process of transferring pictures and designs from specially prepared paper to surfaces such as glass or porcelain. The word "decalcomania" comes from the combination of French "décalquer," meaning "to copy by tracing," and "-manie," meaning "mania." In the 1940s, painted strips of paper with images capable of being transferred to the skin were called "decals" or "cockamanies." They were naturally regarded by many as silly novelties. Hence, in time, the variant "cockamamie" came to be used as an adjective meaning "ridiculous."

Word Of The Day

• oblige
• 
• \uh-BLYJE\

• DEFINITION

verb

1

: to constrain by physical, moral, or legal force or by the exigencies of circumstance

2

a : to earn the gratitude ofb : to do a favor for or do something as a favor

• EXAMPLES

"The state's highest court Monday ruled that Long Island guitar-string maker D'Addario & Co. is not obliged to pay $227,000 in interest for reneging on a 2006 real estate deal." — From an article by Joe Ryan in Newsday (Long Island, New York), November 19, 2012

"He was already in Nashville and had left his warm jacket in Jackson. He asked if I could bring it to the airport, since we were on the same flight. I obliged, delivered the jacket and began a friendship that I treasure." — From an article by Dan Morris in the Jackson Sun (Tennessee), March 15, 2014

• DID YOU KNOW?

"Oblige" shares some similarities with its close relative "obligate," but there are also differences. "Oblige" derived via Middle English and Anglo-French from Latin "obligare" ("to bind to"), a combination of "ob-" ("to or toward") and "ligare" ("to bind"), whereas "obligate" descended directly from the past participle of "obligare." Both "oblige" and "obligate" are frequently used in their past participle forms to express a kind of legal or moral constraint. "Obligated" once meant "indebted for a service or favor," but today it typically means "required to do something because the law requires it or because it is the right thing to do." "Obliged" is now the preferred term for the sense that Southern author Flannery O'Connor used in a 1952 letter: "I would be much obliged if you would send me six copies."

Word Of The Day

• lodestar
• 
• \LOHD-stahr\

• DEFINITION

noun

: one that serves as an inspiration, model, or guide

• EXAMPLES

When she started her own business, Melinda used her father's motto—"Trust your instincts"—as her lodestar.

"For a generation of computer programmers, astrophysicists and other scientists, Mr. Munroe and his online comic, xkcd, have been lodestars." — From an article by Noam Cohen in The New York Times, March 17, 2014

• DID YOU KNOW?

The literal, albeit archaic, meaning of "lodestar" is "a star that leads or guides" and it is a term that has been used especially in reference to the North Star. (The first half of the word derives from the Middle English word "lode," meaning "course.") Both the literal and the figurative sense ("an inspiration or guide") date back to the 14th century, the time of Geoffrey Chaucer. The literal sense fell out of use in the 17th century, and so, for a while, did the figurative sense—but it appeared again 170 years later, when Sir Walter Scott used it in his 1813 poem The Bridal of Triermain.

Word Of The Day

• oneiric
• 
• \oh-NYE-rik\

• DEFINITION

adjective

: of or relating to dreams : dreamy

• EXAMPLES

The paintings, filled with fantastical imagery conjured by the artist's imagination, have a compellingly oneiric quality.

"Most of the actors here are double and triple cast, and if they barely differentiate among their roles, that just adds to theoneiric effect." — From a theater review by Jeffrey Gantz in The Boston Globe, March 12, 2012

• DID YOU KNOW?

The notion of using the Greek noun "oneiros" (meaning "dream") to form the English adjective "oneiric" wasn't dreamed up until the mid-19th century. But back in the early 1600s, linguistic dreamers came up with a few "oneiros" spin-offs, giving English "oneirocriticism," "oneirocritical," and "oneirocritic" (each referring to dream interpreters or interpretation). The surge in "oneiros" derivatives at that time may have been fueled by the interest then among English-speaking scholars in Oneirocritica, a book about dream interpretation by 2nd-century Greek soothsayer Artemidorus Daldianus.

Word Of The Day

• utopia
• 
• \yoo-TOH-pee-uh\

• DEFINITION

noun

: an impractical scheme for social improvement

• EXAMPLES

To some people, gated communities are visions of Utopia—safe, quiet, and out of the way.

"Peninsula Players has entertained generations of audiences since it was founded in 1935 by a brother-and-sister team, Caroline and Richard Fisher, who dreamed of an artistic utopiawhere actors, designers and technicians could focus on their craft while being surrounded by nature in a contemplative setting." — From an article in the Green Bay Press-Gazette, March 12, 2014

• DID YOU KNOW?

In 1516, English humanist Sir Thomas More published a book titled Utopia. It compared social and economic conditions in Europe with those of an ideal society on an imaginary island located off the coast of the Americas. More wanted to imply that the perfect conditions on his fictional island could never really exist, so he called it "Utopia," a name he created by combining the Greek words "ou" (meaning "no, not") and "topos" (meaning "place," a root used in our word "topography"). The earliest generic use of "utopia" was for an imaginary and indefinitely remote place. The current use of "utopia," referring to an ideal place or society, was inspired by More's description of Utopia's perfection.

Word Of The Day

• Walter Mitty
• 
• \WAWL-ter-MIT-ee\

• DEFINITION

noun

: a commonplace unadventurous person who seeks escape from reality through daydreaming

• EXAMPLES

Alan is a Walter Mitty who loves to read travel books but rarely ventures beyond the limits of his own small town.

"Ralphie eventually has to resort to his own Walter Mitty-esque flights of fancy to deal with his real-life predicament." — From an article by Bill Eggert in The Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, Pennsylvania), December 14, 2013

• DID YOU KNOW?

The original Walter Mitty was created by humorist James Thurber in his famous story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." In Walter's real life, he is a reticent, henpecked proofreader befuddled by everyday life. But in his fantasies, Walter imagines himself as various daring and heroic characters. Thurber's popular story was first published in The New Yorker in 1939. "Walter Mitty" has since become the eponym for dreamers who imagine themselves in dramatic or heroic situations.

Word Of The Day

• madeleine
• 
• \MAD-uh-lun\

• DEFINITION

noun

1

: a small rich shell-shaped cake

2

: one that evokes a memory

• EXAMPLES

"The evening started with wine and snacks, which included house-made charcuterie, cheese, and cornbread madeleines—the latter, I thought, a clever mashup of French and US traditions…." — From an article by Tom Philpott on MotherJones.com, March 11, 2014 "Every year, the family gathered in the backyard to roast a whole pig in a pit. Between the smell and the smoke, it makes for my own 35-poundmadeleine." — From an article by Ana Menéndez in Gourmet, September 2007

• DID YOU KNOW?

The madeleine is said to have been named after a 19th-century French cook named Madeleine Paumier, but it was the French author Marcel Proust who immortalized the pastry in his 1913 book Swann's Way, the first volume of his seven-part novelRemembrance of Things Past. In that work, a taste of tea-soaked cake evokes a surge of memory and nostalgia. As more and more readers chewed on the profound mnemonic power attributed to a mere morsel of cake, the word "madeleine" itself became a designation for anything that evokes a memory.

Word Of The Day

• tabula rasa
• 
• \TAB-yuh-luh-RAH-zuh\

• DEFINITION

noun

1

: the mind in its hypothetical primary blank or empty state before receiving outside impressions

2

: something existing in its original pristine state

• EXAMPLES

"In those pioneering days, I was something of a tabula rasa in the kitchen, unless you count my knack for toasting a flawless Pop-Tart." — From an article by Andy Borowitz in Food & Wine, June 2003

"When city officials began handing out development contracts in the 1980s, there was no urban context to go by. It was as close as a city gets to tabula rasa: two square mile of parking lots, vacant warehouses and abandoned railroad tracks." — From an article by Matt Chaban in the New York Daily News, March 7, 2014

• DID YOU KNOW?

Philosophers have been arguing that babies are born with minds that are essentially blank slates since the days of Aristotle. (Later, some psychologists took up the case as well.) English speakers have called that initial state of mental blankness "tabula rasa" (a term taken from a Latin phrase that translates as "smooth or erased tablet") since the 16th century, but it wasn't until British philosopher John Locke championed the concept in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding in 1690 that the term gained widespread popularity in our language. In later years, a figurative sense of the term emerged, referring to something that exists in its original state and that has yet to be altered by outside forces.