Word Of The Day

• recondite
• 
• \REK-un-dyte\

• DEFINITION

adjective

1

: hidden from sight : concealed

2

: difficult or impossible for one of ordinary understanding or knowledge to comprehend : deep

3

: of, relating to, or dealing with something little known or obscure

• EXAMPLES

"We hear from mathematicians that bees have practically solved a recondite problem, and have made their cells of the proper shape to hold the greatest possible amount of honey, with the least possible consumption of precious wax in their construction." — From Charles Darwin's 1859 book On the Origin of Species

"The week after Michelle Obama went on Jimmy Fallon's 'Late Night' show to present the recondite art of Mom Dancing, her segment doomed Jay Leno in Fallon's favor." — From an article by Jeff Simon in The Buffalo News (New York), December 29, 2013

• DID YOU KNOW?

While "recondite" may be used to describe something difficult to understand, there is nothing recondite about the word's history. It dates to the early 1600s, when it was coined from the synonymous Latin word "reconditus." "Recondite" is one of those underused but useful words that's always a boon to one's vocabulary, but take off the "re-" and you get something very obscure: "condite" is an obsolete verb meaning both "to pickle or preserve" and "to embalm." If we add the prefix "in-" to "condite" we get "incondite," which means "badly put together," as in "incondite prose." All three words have Latin "condere" at their root; that verb is translated variously as "to put or bring together," "to put up, store," and "to conceal."

Word Of The Day

• recondite
• 
• \REK-un-dyte\

• DEFINITION

adjective

1

: hidden from sight : concealed

2

: difficult or impossible for one of ordinary understanding or knowledge to comprehend : deep

3

: of, relating to, or dealing with something little known or obscure

• EXAMPLES

"We hear from mathematicians that bees have practically solved a recondite problem, and have made their cells of the proper shape to hold the greatest possible amount of honey, with the least possible consumption of precious wax in their construction." — From Charles Darwin's 1859 book On the Origin of Species

"The week after Michelle Obama went on Jimmy Fallon's 'Late Night' show to present the recondite art of Mom Dancing, her segment doomed Jay Leno in Fallon's favor." — From an article by Jeff Simon in The Buffalo News (New York), December 29, 2013

• DID YOU KNOW?

While "recondite" may be used to describe something difficult to understand, there is nothing recondite about the word's history. It dates to the early 1600s, when it was coined from the synonymous Latin word "reconditus." "Recondite" is one of those underused but useful words that's always a boon to one's vocabulary, but take off the "re-" and you get something very obscure: "condite" is an obsolete verb meaning both "to pickle or preserve" and "to embalm." If we add the prefix "in-" to "condite" we get "incondite," which means "badly put together," as in "incondite prose." All three words have Latin "condere" at their root; that verb is translated variously as "to put or bring together," "to put up, store," and "to conceal."

Word Of The Day

• collimate
• 
• \KAH-luh-mayt\

• DEFINITION

verb

: to make (something, such as light rays) parallel

• EXAMPLES

"Amazingly, some astrophysical jets—streams of charged particles collimated and accelerated over astronomical distances—also exhibit a helical structure." — From an article by Mario Livio on The Huffington Post, November 20, 2013

"The higher cost and fixed eyepieces of the … binoculars are distinct disadvantages, but setup time is reduced—there's no need to collimate optics or align tube assemblies." — From a product review by Phil Harrington in Astronomy, February 2004

• DID YOU KNOW?

One might expect a science-y word like "collimate" to have a straightforward etymology, but that's not the case. "Collimate" comes from Latin "collimare," a misreading of the Latin word "collineare," meaning "to direct in a straight line." The erroneous "collimare" appeared in some editions of the works of ancient Roman statesman Cicero and scholar Aulus Gellius. The error was propagated by later writers—most notably by astronomers, such as Johannes Kepler, who wrote in Latin. And so it was the spelling "collimate," rather than "collineate," that passed into English in the 19th century.

Word Of The Day

• kith
• 
• \KITH\

• DEFINITION

noun

: familiar friends, neighbors, or relatives

• EXAMPLES

Alan looked forward to the annual block party as a way to stay connected with his kith.

"Many urban dwellers, embedded in networks of kith and kin, wouldn't dream of swapping the spiciness of the city for the white-bread pleasures of suburbia." — From an article by David L. Kirp in The New York Times, October 20, 2013

• DID YOU KNOW?

"Kith" has had many meanings over the years. In its earliest uses it referred to knowledge of something, but that meaning died out in the 1400s. Another sense, "one's native land," had come and gone by the early 1500s. The sense "friends, fellow countrymen, or neighbors" developed before the 12th century and was sometimes used as a synonym of "kinsfolk." That last sense got "kith" into hot water after people began using the word in the alliterative phrase "kith and kin." Over the years, usage commentators have complained that "kith" means the same thing as "kin," so "kith and kin" is redundant. Clearly, they have overlooked some other historical definitions, but if you want to avoid redundancy charges, be sure to include friends as well as relatives among your "kith and kin."

Word Of The Day

• rancid
• 
• \RAN-sid\

• DEFINITION

adjective

1

: having a rank smell or taste

2

: offensive

• EXAMPLES

Although considered healthier, unsaturated fats become rancidmuch more easily than saturated fats do.

"Oddly enough, this wild conjecture is about as far as McGinniss goes into the rancid waters of tabloid gossip." — From a book review by Jonathan Yardley in the Washington Post, March 11, 2014

• DID YOU KNOW?

"Rancid" has a fairly straightforward history; it derives from Latin "rancidus," itself from the Latin verb "rancēre," meaning "to be rancid" or "to stink." In addition to the related words "rancidness" and "rancidity," another descendant of "rancēre" in English is "rancor," meaning "bitter deep-seated ill will." ("Rancor" passed through Middle French rather than being borrowed into English directly.) These days, "rancid" also has developed a second, extended sense which is used in the context of offenses to less literal or physical senses than those of smell or taste, and you might see references to "rancid behavior" or "a rancid personality."

Word Of The Day

• virescent
• 
• \vuh-RESS-unt\

• DEFINITION

adjective

: beginning to be green : greenish

• EXAMPLES

Buds formed on the bare trees, infusing the stark branches with a slight virescent tint.

"While Heisman Trophy winner and National Football League quarterback Tim Tebow read 'Green Eggs and Ham,' during Dr. Seuss Week, Lincoln Elementary kindergarten teacher Mary Jo Bures quietly slipped away to a meeting. None of the kindergartners noticed, their eyes fixated on the screen, their ears absorbing the story of Sam I Am and his never wavering quest to get the narrator to try the virescent foods." — From an article by Chris Dunker in the Beatrice Daily Sun (Nebraska), February 25, 2014

• DID YOU KNOW?

"Virescent" first appeared in English in 1826. It derives from the present participle of "virescere," a Latin verb meaning "to become green" and a form of another verb, "virēre," meaning "to be green." "Virēre" also gave us another adjective meaning green, "verdant," only the route to that adjective takes a stop at Old French "verdoier" ("to be green"). "Virescent" has seen occasional general use, as when Thomas Hardy wrote, in his 1881 novel A Laodicean, of "[t]he summer … tipping every twig with a virescent yellow." But it is nowadays found most frequently in scientific contexts, especially those pertaining to botany.

Word Of The Day

• spandex
• 
• \SPAN-deks\

• DEFINITION

noun

: any of various elastic textile fibers made chiefly of polyurethane; also : clothing made of this material

• EXAMPLES

While spandex is appropriate for running races and perhaps errands too, few of us can get away with donning it in the workplace.

"[Olympic bobsled brakeman Chris] Fogt says his athletic life and his military career have some similarities, particularly the camaraderie forged in the trenches…. 'For us, it's obviously slightly different. Your life's not in danger. At the same time, you're sliding down an icy track in a bathtub with four men inspandex. You get very close.'" — From an article by Rick Maese in the Washington Post, February 24, 2014

• DID YOU KNOW?

Spandex is a fiber that has had an impact on fashion high and low, casual and formal, outer and under. It's not a trademark, as a number of the names of other fibers are, among them "Dacron," "Lycra," and "Orlon." It's a generic term, coined in 1959 as an anagram of the word "expands." Anagrammatic coinages are not common; the only other in our dictionaries that the average person is likely to be familiar with is "sideburns." "Sideburns" is an anagram (and synonym) of "burnsides," from Ambrose E. Burnside, a Union general in the American Civil War credited with originating the fashion (in the U.S., at least) also known as "side-whiskers."