Word of the Day

Alacrity is a noun that refers to brisk and cheerful readiness. The Latin word alacritas (ah lah CREE toos) means ‘liveliness’ or ‘animation.’ From this origin our word of the day emerged, retaining the same meaning. Rachel’s ability to meet all kinds of challenges with alacrity makes her an ideal employee. The guy who previously held the position was far more sluggish and that’s why he only laste...

Bravura is a noun that means a display of daring. Coming from the Italian word bravo (BRAH voe) our word of the day emerged in the mid 18th century to describe a great technical skill and brilliance shown in a performance or a display of daring. I hadn’t seen the circus in years. I had forgotten how much bravura there was in the trapeze artists.

Rewild is a verb that means to restore to its natural state. The word wild, meaning ‘a natural, uncultivated state,’ is of Old English and German origin. Our word of the day adds the prefix ‘re’ and creates a verb that means to return a region to this state. I can barely recognize the area where the mall used to be. It looks as though their efforts to rewild the area have been successful.

Natant is an adjective that means swimming or floating. The Latin word natare (nah TAR ay) means ‘to swim,’ but our word of the day is distinguished from swim, because it's more likely to be used in a scientific context to describe plants or inanimate objects. Doctor Hemming’s team found a large amount of fauna natant in the lake. To this day they are not sure why it didn’t simply remain at the la...

Donnish is an adjective that means bookish. Derived from the Latin word dominus (DOME ee noos) meaning ‘lord or master,’ a ‘don’ came to refer to leader in a number of very different contexts. It sometimes refers to a high-ranking member of the mafia, as in Don Corleone from the movie the Godfather. But it may also mean a senior professor at a college or university. This academic meaning provides...

Appurtenant is an adjective that means belonging or pertinent. Coming from the Latin word pertinere (per tin AIR ay) meaning ‘to pertain’ or ‘concern’  our word of the day is similar to the words ‘pertaining’ or ‘appertaining,’ but is more likely to be used in reference to real estate to describe properties that ‘belong’ with other properties. For example: The appurtenant gazebo in the front...

Fatuous is an adjective that means silly or foolish. Fatuus (fah TOOS) means ‘fool’ in Latin. While our word of the day is pretty much never used in a flattering context, it often simply means ‘silly’ or ‘pointless’ as opposed to downright ‘wrong.’ As usual our weekly meeting was not every productive. It mostly consisted of fatuous observations about Saturday’s softball game.

Caducity is a noun that means frailty. The Latin word cadere (cah DARE ay) means ‘to fall.’ Over the years, our word of the day would come to mean ‘liable to fall.’ Today caducity may refer to any kind of frailty, physical or otherwise. At Edwin’s age, it’s a struggle to compete with the younger athletes. His caducity has greatly limited his physical prowess.

Leporine is an adjective that means resembling a rabbit or a hare. The Latin word lepus (LAY poos) means rabbit. A person described as leporine would probably not be flattered by the word. Shaving his head bald caused an awkward emphasis on Chuck’s large ears. It gave him a leporine look he probably wasn’t hoping for.

Palmy is an adjective that means prosperous or flourishing. Palm trees may seem like an unlikely origin for word that means ‘prosperous or flourishing,’ but it would help to know that our word of the day began life because the branch of a palm tree in 14th Century England had traditionally been used as a symbol of triumph. After years of struggle, my uncle found the palmy days he’d always been see...

Literatim is an adjective that means letter for letter. Literatim comes directly from Latin. Originally meaning ‘literature,’ its meaning has shifted a little over the years and now means ‘word for word,’ as in: Our English teacher demanded that we recite the introduction to Romeo and Juliet literatim. Even the tiniest deviation from the text would not be tolerated.

Widdershins is an adverb that means in a contrary direction. Our word of the day is of German origin. It evolved from the word widersinnen (VEE der sin en) which means ‘against the way.’ In this case, the ‘way’ is clockwise, so widdershins first meant ‘counterclockwise.’ As it evolved through 16th century Scottish and eventually English, its meaning broadened a little into: ‘in a contrary directio...

Abdicate is a verb that means to give up a position of power. The king refused to abdicate his position in spite of protests from the people. It would take much more to get him to give up that kind of power.

Thaumaturge is a noun that refers to a worker of miracles or a magician. The Greek word thaumatourgos (THOU mah too gose) refers to a ‘conjuror or worker of wonders.’ The word’s meaning has remained more or less the same, but today we’re less likely to believe in the idea of someone working miracles. Still our word of the day is always handy when a miracle worker does emerge. The medication took a...

Cogitation is a noun that refers to the action of thinking deeply about something. The Latin word cogitare (KOE gee tar ay) means ‘to think’ and has given birth to a number of related English words like recognize, cognizant and cogitate, a verb that means ‘to think deeply.’ Our word of the day is a noun that is derived from cogitate. Kevin wanted to contemplate things before calling the police, bu...

Paradisical is an adjective that means related to or befitting paradise. The concept of paradise is old as time itself. But the word paradise comes from the Greek word paradeisos (par uh DASE ose) meaning ‘royal park.’ Our word of the day is simply a derivative that means related to paradise. There was something paradiscal about that beach. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect place.

Burgeon is a verb that means to grow or flourish rapidly The Latin word burra (BOO rah) means ‘wool.’ From there it evolved into the French word bourgeonenner (BOOGH ah nay) meaning to ‘put out buds.’ This gave birth to our word of the day, which is often used as the adjective burgeoning. We thought the controversy would harm the sales of our t-shirt. It turned out to create a burgeoning demand.

Orgulous is an adjective that means haughty or full of pride. Our word of the day emerged from Old French and gained popularity when used by 19th century historical novelist Sir Walter Scott. It has an old wold sound that may sound a little affected if used too casually. The Queen’s orgulous behavior puzzled many in the court. They’d never before seen her act in such a haughty manner.

Reticular is an adjective that means having a netlike structure. The Latin word rete (RAY tay) means ‘net.’ Something reticular resembles a net in some sense. The word is frequently used in science to describe cells that arranged in a net-like fashion. But may also be used in an everyday manner. When I saw those reticular patterns on my legs, I panicked. But the doctor told me it was perfectly nor...

Coriaceous is an adjective that means resembling or having the texture of leather. Corium (CORE ee oom) is the Latin word for leather or hide. This is the ancestor of our word of the day which may refer literally to something made of leather or figuratively to something that resembles the texture of leather. I usually prefer having something soft against my skin, but with winter approaching, I lov...

Volition is a noun that refers to the power of choosing or determining. The Latin word volo (VOE low) means ‘I wish’ or ‘I want.’ It would be helpful to think of a person’s volition as the ability to act as they want. At first it seemed that Sarah was forced to leave school by the administration. But we later later learned she was leaving of her own volition.

Esemplastic is an adjective that means moulding into one or unifying. There’s a good chance you recognize the word ‘plastic’ in our word of the day. Esemplastic emerged in the early 19th century by combining plastic — from the Greek plassein (PLASS ain) meaning ‘to mold’ with ‘es’ and ‘en’ meaning ‘into one.’ We needed somebody to unify our tech work with our philanthropic efforts. Fortunately we...

Alameda is a noun that refers to a public walkway shaped with trees. Our word of the day comes directly from Spanish, where it referred to a poplar grove. It entered English in the late 18th century with basically the same meaning. It’s also a common baby name as well as a name of a city in north central California. The alameda looks lovely this time of year. It’s wonderful to stroll along those t...

Stellate is an adjective that means star-shaped. The Latin word Stella (STAY la) means star. Over the years it has evolved into a number of English words like stellar, interstellar, constellation and, our word of the day which refers to something shaped like a star. Those stellate figures under water had me transfixed. It looked as if I was staring into the nighttime sky.

Seriatim is sometimes an adjective and sometimes an adverb that means point-by-point. Related to the word series, our word of the day comes from the Latin phrase ‘one after another.’ The lawyer’s closing argument was perfect. He refuted every accusation made by the other side seriatim.