Word of the Day

Gallicism is a noun that refers to a French expression adopted by speakers of another language. Although it refers to The French language, Gallicism — like the French language itself — has its origin in Latin. The word refers to people descended from Gaul, a region that later became France. Here’s an example: Lisa’s use of the phrase je ne sais quoi confused me a little before I realized it was a...

Phatic is an adjective that denotes language used for social interaction. The Greek word phatos (FAH tose) means ‘spoken.’ Since entering English in the 1920s, its distant relative phatic has come to mean ‘used for social interaction.’ When I asked Carly how she was doing, she gave me a long-winded answer about how she felt pretty good after a rough weekend. It was as if she didn’t understand that...

Eidolon is a noun that refers to an idealized person or thing. The Greek word eidos (EE dose) means ‘form.’ An eidolon is the form of a perfect person or thing. Example: The character ‘Betty’ in the book didn’t seem very realistic to me. She seemed more like an eidolon. That author has used many idealized characters in the past.

Torpor is a noun that refers to a state of physical or mental inactivity. In Latin, the word torpore (tore POOR ay) means ‘be numb’ or ‘sluggish.’ Our word of the day may refer to a time of mental inactivity or it may generally refer to lethargy. After running the marathon, I felt a torpor for a few days. This kind of sluggishness is common for marathon runners.

Dithyramb is a statement or writing in an enthusiastic vein. We don’t know the precise origin of our word of the day except that it came from the Greeks to refer to a wild choral hymn. In more recent times, it is more likely to describe writing. Here’s an example: The dithyramb used to describe the band’s new album suggested it was the greatest thing ever. I was disappointed. But I guess it’s inev...

Flapdoodle is a noun that refers to nonsense. Our word of the day doesn’t appear to have an origin. It seems to have been an arbitrarily formed word that simply refers to nonsense or silliness. It’s pretty much always used in an informal context. All that flapdoodle going on in our backyard distracted me from work. Although I have to admit, I’ve engaged in that kind of nonsense from time to time m...

Compos mentis is an adjective that means having full control of one’s mind. Our word of the day comes directly from a Latin phrase that translates to ‘having the mastery of one’s mind.’ It is frequently used in a legal context. When Carl wrote his will, he began with the usual declaration of being compos mentis. But that strange shirt he was wearing would suggest he may have been sane, but he was...

Estuary is a noun that refers to the tidal mouth of a large river. The Latin word aestus (ESS toose) means ‘tide.’ Our word of the day is derived from a variant of this that means ‘tidal part of the shore.’ There’s a lovely place in New York where the Hudson River meets the shore. This estuary is my favorite place in the Big Apple.

Tammany is an adjective that means related to political corruption. Our word of the day got its name from Tammany Hall, headquarters of the Tammy Society, an organization in New York City. The word Tammany soon became a general term to describe any political corruption. It can be used as an adjective or a noun. Here’s an example of Tammany used as a noun: With so much Tammany going on, it’s a wond...

Inveigh is a verb that means to write or speak against something with great hostility. Our word of the day comes from the latin word vehere (vay HAIR ay) which means ‘to carry.’ In time, the word came to mean ‘attack.’ When we inveigh against something or someone we attack — usually with words. Here’s an example: Myra tried to inveigh against habit of using unauthorized parking spaces at work, but...

Treen is an adjective that means made of wood. It’s not a coincidence that the first three letters of our word of the day come to ‘tree.’ Tree is a word of Old English origin and by adding the suffix E-N, which means ‘made of,’ we get something made of the same substance as trees. Here’s an example: The treen chest of drawers is just what I needed for this room. It seemed to me that something made...

Omnium gatherum is a noun that refers to a collection of miscellaneous people or things. Our word of the day comes directly from Latin. From Latin, it takes omnium, which means ‘of all,’ and from Old English it takes gather, a word that was later brought into English with the same meaning it currently has. The meeting was an omnium gatherum of people from all professions. I spotted lawyers, janito...

Mulct is a verb that means to cheat or defraud. The Latin word mulcta (MOOLK tah) refers to ‘a fine.’ Our word of the day may refer to the act of extracting money from someone by fine or it may mean extracting money from someone through fraud. I felt the health inspector was trying to mulct me with that fine. It just didn’t make sense that having too many fire extinguishers could be considered a f...

Lyceum is a noun that refers to a literary institution. Our word of the day comes directly from the Greek word for a temple for gods. More recently, it refers to any institution or teaching place. If you ask me, this town could really use a lyceum. As of right now, it has seventeen bars, but no public libraries.

Xiphoid is an adjective that means sword-shaped. Our word of the day comes almost directly from the Greek word for ‘sword.’ It was imported into English in the mid 18th century. Here’s an example of xiphoid in use: The xiphoid guitar in the picture was my idea, not my wife’s. In fact, Marie threatened to leave me if I ever left the house with that thing.

Au fond is a an adverb that means in essence or at core. Our word of the day comes directly from French and means ‘at bottom,’ or ‘at core.’ Here’s an example: Au fond, Tommy is a good man. But he’s capable of behaving very badly. I don’t care how good a person he is, inside, I’m afraid, I can’t let his bad behavior go.

Causative is an adjective that means acting as a cause. The Latin word cau SARE ay) cow SARE ay) means ‘to cause.’ This gave us the English word cause. Our word of the day adds the suffix A-T-I-V-E to indicate a characteristic of the word. I didn’t feel the aspirin I took was causative of my stomach ache. My taking it and the stomach ache took place on the same day, but one did not cause the other...

Gravimetric is an adjective that means related to the measurement of weight. Our word of the day comes from the Latin word gravis (GRAV is) which means ‘heavy.’ You could think of gravimetric as something related to the measurement of how heavy something is. Example: When Andy didn’t like what had been announced as his weight, he complained about gravimetric means of finding this number. But the h...

Perdurable is an adjective that means enduring continuously. The Latin word perdurare (per door ARE ay) means ‘to endure.’ Our word of the day can be thought of as a more literary synonym of durable. I’d always thought of my German Shepard Max as my perdurable love — until he gobbled up those fig newtons I was saving. I still love him, but I might love my goldfish a little more.

Hereditament is a noun that means an item of inheritance. The Latin word hereditare (her red it ARE ay) means ‘inherit.’ It was later imported into English with the same meaning. For our word of the day, the suffix M-E-N-T was added to express the means or result of an action. Here’s an example of hereditament in use: That picture hanging in the living room was a hereditament from my late grandfat...

Flexitarian is a noun that refers to a person who has a primarily vegetarian diet but occasionally eats meat or fish. The word flexitarian combines two common English words ‘flexible’ and ‘vegetarian’ to refer to someone who is flexible in terms of how strictly they adhere to a vegetarian diet. I’ve been a flexitarian for five years now. If I had to guess I’d say I’ve had three meals where I’ve ad...

Fillip is a noun that refers to the act of flicking a finger against something. Our word of the day has an etymology similar to the words ‘flick’ or ‘flip.’ They are all from Middle English. Fillip in particular, has retained the same of ‘making a flip with the fingers.’ The word can also be used as a verb that means ‘to flip something with a finger.’ Here’s an example of both: I wanted to fillip...

Valhalla is a noun that refers to a place of honor or glory. Our word of the day comes from Old Norse. It is translated to ‘hall of the dead.’ I love reading about old Norse myths. In particular, I loved hearing about all their adventures they’d gotten into before reaching Valhalla.

Bruit is a verb that means to spread a rumor or report. Our word of the day comes from Middle English, meaning ‘noise.’ More recently It has come to mean spreading information, be the information true or false. Here’s an example: Around the office, people began to bruit reports of what happened at the new year’s eve party. But I can attest that the rumors were all false.

Cunctation is a noun that refers to an action or delay. Our word of the day comes from the Latin word cunctari (koonk TAR ee) which means ‘to delay.’ It entered English in the late 16th century, maintaining it basic meaning. By adding the suffix A-T-I-O-N, it makes cunctation a noun that refers to an action or instance of something. I was a little annoyed by the cunctation of my son’s baseball gam...