Word of the Day

Brummagem is an adjective that means cheap or counterfeit. In the 17th century, Birmingham, England was notorious for a proliferation of counterfeit coins. Soon the phrase ‘Birmingham coin’ came to refer to such imitation currency. Our word of the day came about when the city’s name was filtered through a dialect and altered. It now refers to anything counterfeit — whether related to coins or not....

Impalpable is an adjective that means not easily understood. Our word of the day comes from the Latin word palpare (pal PAR ay) which means ‘to feel.’ When something is described as palpable, it is something that can be felt. But an impalpable object or idea cannot be felt or grasped cerebrally. The movie struck me as impalpable. I suspect it was trying to make a meaningful statement regarding the...

Gamesome is an adjective that means playful and happy. Our word of the day combines the word ‘game’ a word of Old English origin with the suffix S-O-M-E, which usually means ‘characterized by being.’ So a tiresome person is characterized by being tired. Similarly, a gamesome person is characterized by being eager and willing. For example: Charlotte didn’t seem like herself today. She is usually in...

Cannonade is a noun that refers to a continuous bombardment or effort. Our word of the day is derived from the word cannon, a large, heavy piece of artillery. Cannon has its origin in Italian and once it evolved into cannonade, it came to refer to a period of continuous gunfire. But cannonade can also be used metaphorically to refer to any kind of attack — even a verbal one. For example: After he...

Breviary is a noun that refers to a brief summary. The Latin word brevis (BRE vis) means ‘short’ or ‘brief.’ Our word of the day was initially used by the Catholic Church to describe a book containing the service for each day. In time, it has come to refer to any brief summary. I wasn’t able to attend the monthly meeting for our parking lot attendants, but based on the breviary I saw, I didn’t mis...

Bildungsroman is a noun that refers to a coming of age novel. Our word of the day comes from two German words. Bildung (BILL dung) means ‘education,’ and roman (ROE mahn) refers to ‘a novel.’ A Bildungrsoman is a term used to describe a novel that features a younger character who is educated about the ways of life. My favorite bildungsroman is ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ Experiencing life through the...

Discommode is a verb that means to inconvenience. The Latin word commodus (COMB oh deuce) means ‘suitable’ or ‘convenient.’ The word accommodate is also derived from commodus and is often used to mean ‘make someone or something more comfortable.’ Our word of the day can be used to describe making someone less comfortable. For example: When I called Shelly up at three am, I was hoping I didn’t disc...

Benignity is a noun that refers to kindness or tolerance toward others. The Latin word bene (BAY nay) means ‘good’ or ‘well’ and is the ancestor of such English words as benefactor, beneficial and benefit. Benignity first became a product of Middle English, where it referred to a single act of kindness. More recently, it refers to kindness or acceptance in general. For example: My parents always s...

Meliorism is a noun that refers to the belief that the world tends to improve. Our word of the day is believed to have been been first coined by 19th century novelist George Elliot. It is derived from the Latin word melior (MAY lee or) which means ‘better,’ and is a distant relative to words like ‘ameliorate.’ Connie’s constant meliorism can become grating after a while. Don’t get me wrong, I tend...

Asunder is an adjective that means divided or apart. Coming from the Old English word ‘sunder,’ which means ‘to break apart,’ our word of the day is often, but not exclusively, used in literary contexts. For example: Our nation will soon be torn asunder if we cannot find the will to unite. None of us who want to live in a divided nation

Esculent is an adjective that means fit to be eaten. Our word of the day has evolved from the Latin word esca (ACE cuh) which means ‘food.’ It is a synonym of edible, and may describe anything that may be eaten. After eight hours of toiling away at the cattle ranch, I was hungry enough to ingest anything that could have been eaten. If you had convinced me that the living room sofa was esculent, I...

Welter is a noun that refers to a jumble or a confused mess. Coming from Middle English, our word of the day can be used a couple of ways. In addition to its main definition of a large supply of objects, it may also refer to a general state of disorder. Here’s an example of the later: Once the donuts were gone, the meeting had become a welter. I’d never before seen things get that ugly, but I supp...

Kvell is a verb that means to be happy and proud. Our word of the day comes almost directly from Yiddish and is mostly used in informal contexts. Example: Brad isn’t a man typically given to expressing his joy. So it was deeply amusing to see him unabashedly kvell when his daughter graduated with honors.

Philippic is a noun that refers to a bitter attack or denunciation. Our word of the day has its origin in ancient Greece, namely when a Greek orator made a series of fiery speeches against Philip the second of Macedon. Centuries later, the word Philippic entered the English language as reference to any passionate tirade. Sandy’s philippic against management caught everyone at the office off guard....

Plethoric is an adjective that means inflated or overfull. Coming almost directly from a Greek word that means ‘fullness,’ plethora is a noun that refers to ‘a large or excessive amount of something.’ Our word of the day is the adjective variation, used to describe things that are excessively filled. Example: At first I was excited by the plethoric supply of Snickers bars we took with us on our hi...

Adulatory is an adjective that means excessive praising or admiring. The Latin word adulari (ad you LARE ay) means ‘fawning’ or ‘flattering.’ To adulate is to praise someone excessively. Our word of the day is the adjective variation. An example of its use is: I understand the need to make our supervisor feel comfortable, but Tanya’s adulatory tone simply embarrassed me. She made it seem as t...

Jabberwocky is a noun that refers to meaningless language. A poem by Lewis Carroll called Through the Looking Glass gave birth to our word of the day in 1871. This whimsical poem referred to a frightful beast called a jabberwock. Since then, jabberwocky has been a permanent fixture in the English vernacular, often used to describe made-up, invented words that have no particular meaning — like jabb...

Susurration is a noun that refers to a soft murmur or whisper. Our word of the day comes from the Latin word susurrare (soo soo RARE ay) which means ‘to murmur or hum.’ A susurration typically refers to a whisper or murmur coming from a person, but it can also come from other objects. For example: As night fell, a soft susurration rose from the weeds outside. It almost seems the night was calling...

Finagle is a verb that means to obtain something by devious means. Our word of the day was birthed in the 1920s, possibly related to the word ‘fiddle.’ It is mostly used in informal contexts. For example: As a highly ambitious young man, Frank was determined to get what he wanted in life — ethically or otherwise. Whatever he couldn’t earn, he aimed to finagle.

Dermic is an adjective that means related to the skin. The Greek word derma (DER muh) means ‘skin.’ It’s related to English words like dermatological. Our word of the day may describe anything related to skin. For example: this horrible weather has given my skin a leathery feel. I haven’t had this many dermic problems since high school.

Alimentation is a noun that refers to the provision of nourishment and other necessities of life. The Latin word alimentare (all ee men TAR ay) means ‘to feed.’ Our word of the day may refer to food or it may refer to any other kind of vital nourishment. In difficult times, I took great alimentation from the friendships I had developed. That kind of nourishment can’t be derived from any medicine i...

Pavlovian is an adjective that means having a conditioned or predictable response. Our word of the day was named after an early 20th century physiologist who engaged with experiments of conditioning. His best known experiments involved training a dog to behave in a certain way upon hearing a ringing bell. When we describe something as pavlovian, we are describing it as being automatic and predicta...

Nival is an adjective that means related to or growing in snow. The Latin word nivalis (knee VOLL ees) means ‘snow.’ Our word of the day may describe anything related to snow and it can also refer to something capable of living under snow. For example: I was surprised by all the life thriving in those cold regions we explored. I wasn’t yet aware of the many nival plants and animals that inhabited...

Fettle is a noun that refers to condition or working order. Coming from Old English, our word of the day is used to refer to the condition of a thing or a person. For example: Harvey was in fine fettle in the weeks prior to running his marathon. But he wasn’t in such great shape after an all night binge of ice cream and pizza the night before actually running the race. This explains his five and h...

Soniferous is an adjective that means producing or conducting sound. Our word of the day shares an origin with words like ‘sonic’ and ‘sonata.’ All of these words are derived from the Latin word ‘sonus’ (SO noose) which means ‘sound.’ Soniferous is a word that describes anything that can be produce a sound. For example: When hiking in the woods, I was wary of any creature that sounded scary. But s...