Word of the Day

Nisus is a noun that refers to a mental or physical effort to attain an end. Nisus comes directly from the Latin (NEEZ zoos) where its pronunciation may differ a little from its English   descendant, but its meaning has remained roughly the same. A nisus is an effort, but more specifically, it one to reach a particular goal. No matter what nisus he employed, Larry simply couldn’t finish...

Evince is a verb that means to display. Our word of the day comes from the Latin word vincere (VEEN chair ay) which means ‘conquer’ or ‘win.’ But before you get carried away, keep in mind that the victories evince indicates take place not on a battlefield, but in the realm of a conversation or perhaps a legal trial. A person may ‘win’ a dispute when information is evinced. When those cookies went...

Fulgurant is an adjective that means flashing like lighting. The Latin fulgur (FOOL goor)  means ‘lightning.’ Our word of the day is usually used metaphorically to refer to a powerful brilliant flash — but not necessarily to refer to actual lightning. The coach’s words struck me with fulgurant force. Those five words — ‘you’re cut from the team’ — didn’t take long to say, but their powerful i...

Edenic is an adjective that means Like a paradise. Coming from Hebrew, our word of the day has its origin in the Biblical Garden of Eden, a place of great happiness and unspoiled paradise. Our word of the day may describe something that refers specifically to the Garden of Eden, or more broadly, to anything that resembles paradise. I found that beach property to be edenic. Everything about it was...

Sinewy is an adjective that means tough or forceful. In anatomy, a sinew is a piece of tough fibrous tissue uniting muscle to bone or bone to bone. When used figuratively, sinewy may simply mean ‘lean’ or ‘spare’ as in the novelist’s writing wasn’t littered with unnecessary words. When done well, hat type of sinewy prose can captivate a reader.

Bromidic is an adjective that means commonplace or trite. The chemical bromide’s etymology is of unknown origin, but we do know that bromide is a sedative used medicinally. When used metaphorically, something bromidic may not actually put you to sleep, but it may bore you — as trite, cliche things often do. Our coach loved to deliver these bromidic speeches consisting of tedious cliches. Far from...

Osmotic is an adjective that means having the properties of osmosis (a gradual assimilation of knowledge). The Greek word Omos (OSE mose) means ‘thrusting’ or ‘pushing.’ You could say that when something osmotic is taking place, it is being thrust or pushed in some sense or other. When the word is used in a medical sense, it refers to something being pushed through a membrane. But used in an every...

Actuate is a verb that means to put into action or motion. The Latin word actus (OCK toos) meaning ‘a doing’ is parent to many English words including act, actor, actual and activate, a word similar to our word of the day. It’s often used to describe the act of putting machinery into motion. I think the copy machine is broken. When I tried to actuate it, it didn’t do anything.

Catchpenny is an that means using sensationalism for appeal. First coined in the 18th century, catchpenny may be best understood as a synonym of sensationalistic. For example: My grandfather was an writer of catchpenny biographies. His books were poorly researched and not very skillfully written, but they made money because of the popular subjects.

Nephalism is a noun that refers to the total abstinence from alcohol. The Greek word nēphein (NEF fine) means ‘drink no wine.’ From this beginning our word of the day was born. All of the free drinks on the cruise will make it difficult to maintain nephalism. I’m not sure I can make it eleven days without a drop of alcohol.

Ben Trovato is an adjective that means characteristic and appropriate even if untrue. Ben Trovato comes directly from Italian where its words mean ‘well found.’ The fact that the accusations against Carl were Ben Trovato made no difference in the courtroom. That they accurately summed him up didn’t change the fact that they weren’t strictly true.

Effrontery is a noun that means insolent and impertinent behavior. Our word of the day is derived from the Latin word frons (fronce) which means ‘brow’ or ‘forehead’ combined with the prefix E-F, meaning ‘without.’ If this seems like an unlikely origin of a word for insolent behavior, keep in mind that the Romans thought of the brow as the seat of a person’s modesty much in the same we think of th...

Cutpurse is a noun that refers to a pickpocket. A combination of the English words ‘cut’ and ‘purse,’ our word of the day has been around since the 14th century. Its origin refers to the practice of stealing by cutting purses suspended from a waistband. But the term may be used to describe any pickpocket — regardless of their method of thievery. I was victimized by a cutpurse at the fair last summ...

Piecemeal is an adjective that means one at a time or gradually. At first glance our word of the day may seem to be simply a combination of the words ‘piece’ and ‘meal.’ But its origin is a little more complicated than that. The word’s second syllable — meal — has nothing to do with ‘food consumed on regular occasions,’ but the similarity stems from their Old English origin, meaning taken one at a...

Gerent is a noun that means one who rules or manages. The Latin gerere (Jair RAY ray) means ‘to carry’ or ‘bear,’ most likely used in a military sense initially. Today a gerent is someone who rules or manages, be it in the military or otherwise. In sandlot football, I was the gerent of my team. I called the plays, assigned the positions and took all the credit when our team won.

Olid is an adjective that means having a strong, disagreeable smell. The Latin word olere (oh LARE ay) means ‘to smell.’ Somewhere before reaching English, the word acquired a more specific meaning and came to refer to a strong, unpleasant smell. Kevin had been stashing milk in his closet again. I could track the bottles down through the olid scent that spread down the hallways.

Tradecraft is a noun that means the techniques and procedures of espionage. Our word of the day combines two common English words — ‘trade’ and ‘craft’ — to get a word that may refer broadly to the skills acquired through the experience of any trade, or more specifically, the skills of espionage. My little sister could pursue a career with the FBI when she gets older. With all of the Tradecraft sh...

Bibliolater is a noun that refers to one who is excessively devoted to books. You may recognize the word ‘bible’ in bibliolater. That’s because both words come from the Greek biblion (BEE bee yon) meaning ‘book.’ In addition to referring to a person highly devoted to books, our word of the day may also describe someone with an excessive reverence to the letter of the Bible. My son is quite a bibli...

Reveille is a noun that means a signal to get out of bed. In addition to providing the origin of our word of the day, Latin word vigilare (vij uh ARE ay) meaning ‘to keep watch’ and ‘to stay awake’ has given us vigil, vigilant and vigilante. In the armed forces, our word of the day refers to a bugle whose sound is intended to wake up the soldiers from sleep. But the civilians among us may als...

Hortative is an adjective that means strongly urging. Hortari (hor TAR ee) is Latin for ‘exhort’ or ‘urge.’ Actions that strongly urge people are deserving of our word of the day, hortative. It will take more than gentle persuasion to get Melanie to change her mind on this issue. She’ll require a hortative speech that stresses the need to act immediately.

Coming from the Latin word preada, (PRY duh) meaning ‘to prey’ (as in ‘prey on a weak victim),’ our word of the day may be used to describe a number of our friends — or enemies — of the animal kingdom. It my also be used to describe the behavior or demeanor of humans. At first JR struck me as a guy who would never take advantage of another person. It wasn’t until later that I would see how predaci...

Alliciency is a noun that refers to the power of attracting. Our word of the day has evolved from the Latin allicere (all ee CHAIR ay) meaning ‘to allure.’ It may be used simply to refer to attractiveness, but is best understood as a power that some have over others. We’re seeking a model with just the right alliciency. After all, we need to attract people to this product they’ve been neglecting f...

Imperious is an adjective that means arrogant or commanding. The Latin word imperare (im pair RAWR ay) means ‘to rule or command.” A person described as imperious isn’t necessarily a ruler, but they earn the adjective by behaving as if they should be. I’ve learned that acting in an imperious way doesn’t work in our industry. It’s best to handle artistic types with a gentle hand instead of a comman...

Gloaming is a noun that refers to twilight or dusk. Related to the word ‘glow,’ our word of the day is of Germanic origin and now refers to a glow taking place at a specific time of the day, dusk. It is sometimes called ‘the gloaming.’ Dusk in the country feels very different than in a big city. There’s something romantic about the gloaming in an open meadow that is not dwarfed by giant skyscraper...

Acumen is a noun that refers to the ability to make good judgements. Coming from the Latin, acuere (ah kware ay) meaning ‘to sharpen,’ our word of the day came to refer to a mental sharpness or shrewdness. Jeff was a great football player, but he simply lacks the acumen to be an effective head coach. We need someone with a sharper, more keen mind.