Word of the Day

Minerva is a noun that means a woman of great wisdom. Fans of Roman mythology may recall Minerva as the Goddess of wisdom. So referring to somebody — even a mere mortal — as a Minerva is another way of identifying her a source of great wisdom.  To most people, my Grandmother was just an ordinary lady. But after all the brilliant advice I’d gotten from her I came to recognize her as a Minerva.

Moonstruck is an adjective that means dreamily romantic or bemused by love. Our word of the day combines the familiar word ‘moon’ with the past participle of strike, to give us a way to describe someone who’s been metaphorically ‘struck’ or affected by the moon. Keep in mind that in the late 17th  century, when moonstruck came to life, it was common for people to believe the moon had special...

Auspice is a noun that means support or help. The Latin word auspex (OW speks) means ‘observer of birds.’ If that seems an odd place for our word of the day to take flight, consider the phrase ‘take him under your wing,’ meaning provide protection and support for him. That’s exactly the kind of context that auspice is best used. I spent my first year at the studio under the auspice of a wonderful...

Simon-pure is a noun that means a completely authentic person.  Our word of the day comes from 18th century satirical play called Bold Stroke for a Wife. The name Simon-pure came to mean ‘authentic’ partly because the character is impersonated by someone else for most of the play and is only revealed to be ‘authentic’ when when the real Simon-pure identifies himself. Also the character is a Q...

Gourmand is a noun that means a person who loves to eat.  Our word of the day comes directly from Old French where it meant ‘wine taster.’ More recently, the word’s appetite has expanded to include food. And in case you’re wondering, ‘gourmand’ has the same origin as ‘gourmet.’  — as in ‘a gourmet chef.’ They both mean ‘a connoisseur of good food,’ but gourmand is more likely to refer to...

Maffick is a verb that means to celebrate extravagantly.  Mafeking is the capital city of the North-West Province of South Africa. It was the sight of the siege of  Mafeking during the Second Boer War. British troops had taken the city under siege. And when their reign had ended in May of 1900, the city engaged in extravagant public celebration. Our word of the day is used to describe th...

Notional is an adjective that means existing only in theory.  The Latin word notio (NO tee oh) means notion, which simply means ‘an idea.’ Something that is notional exists only as an idea — not in real life. Craig’s notional thoughts about what we could do with the park swimming pool sounded great. Too bad they were so unrealistic.

Veristic is an adjective that means extremely naturalistic. Our word of the day is one of many words derived from the Latin word verum (VAIR oom) meaning truth. There’s also veracity, verily and previous word of the day verisimilitude. Veristic is frequently used to describe artwork that is naturalistic in nature.  I enjoy the veristic quality of my daughter’s paintings. Those lush landscapes...

Bemuse is a verb that means to puzzle or confuse.  Bemuse comes from the Old French word muser (MOO zay) means to be absorbed in thought. To bemuse someone means to entrance them usually with something odd or confusing.  Kate’s actions often bemused be. I found myself endlessly puzzled by her odd behavior.

Vestiture is a noun that means clothing.  The Latin word vestire (ve STEER ay) has given birth to many words, included a few related to clothing, like vest and vestment. Our word of the day is simply a synonym of clothing, but is probably best used in a more formal context.  Terry’s vestiture suggested he was on his way to a job interview. I hadn’t seen him that dressed up in years.

Holophrase is a noun that means a single word that expresses a sentence.  Our word of the day combines the Greek prefix ‘holo’ meaning whole and the Latin phrasis (pee ROCK sees) meaning ‘expression.’ Together they mean a single word that conveys an entire sentence. Howdy, a single word that means ‘how do you do.’ Is an example of a holophrase.  At first I was confused when Corey raced i...

Languor is a noun that means a state of dreaminess or exhaustion. The Latin word Languere (land GWARE ay) means ‘illness’ or ‘distress,’ but our word of the day is pretty versatile, and it may refer to any state that leaves you drained, for example: Ever since running that marathon yesterday, I’ve had no energy. I hope this languor goes away before reporting to work tomorrow. 

Atavistic is an adjective that means related to something ancient.  The Latin word atavus (AH tah voos) means forefather and atavus could be considered the forefather of our word of the day. When we describe something as atavistic, we’re usually not referring to a specific forefather or ancestor, but more generally, to something ancient.  As an archeologist, I love finding ancient civili...

Acclivity is a noun that means an upward slope. The Latin word for ‘slope’ clivus (KLEE voos) is the origin of our word of the day. Its antonym is declivity, meaning downward slope. Jogging up that street was a real challenge. By the time I’d get through running up that acclivity, I’d be winded.

Tendentious is an adjective than means intending to advance a particular cause or point of view. Tendentious is a word that comes from the German tendenzios (ten den SYOOS) that means in a biased or partisan way.  I was fired from my job as a college professor for not teaching history in an objective way. They simply felt my interpretations of the facts were tendentious. 

Scapegrace is a noun that means a mischievous young person.  Our word of the day is a good old portmanteau, a word that is formed by combining two different terms. In this case ‘escape’ and ‘grace’ come together to refer to a person who has escaped the grace of God. But don’t be intimidated that daunting definition. The word often refers simply to a mischievous little brat.&nbs...

Otic is an adjective that means related to the ear.  The Greek word for ear is aufti (off TEE) which gave birth to our word of the day.  Once again, otic is spelled O-T-I-C. It’s usually used in a medical context as opposed to a word like aural that may refer to hearing. The doctor was initially reluctant to perform surgery on my ear. He was afraid that all that otic fluid would be a pro...

Opprobrium is a noun that means public disgrace. Our word of the day comes directly from Latin. It combines the prefix ‘O-B,’ meaning ‘against’ with probrum (PRO broom) which means ‘disgraceful act.’  Public officials who get caught taking bribes get no symphony from me. I say let them spend the rest of their careers in opprobrium. 

Nettlesome is an adjective that means irritable or difficult.  A plant called the nettle has jagged leaves covered with stinging hairs. And this irritable plant naturally gave birth to our word of the day which means irritable. The old meaning of nettlesome was ‘to beat or sting someone with nettles,’ but more recently the word is used in a figurative sense, such as: Don’t get me wrong, I app...

Nascent is an adjective that means just coming into existence.  In Latin, the word Nasci (NAAH shee) means to be born. This, of course, was the birthplace of our word of the day. In chemistry the word nascent means ‘freshly generated.’ But in everyday use, it usually refers to something new that has signs of potential.  Years ago our company invested in the nascent video game industry. T...

Fecund is an adjective that means highly fertile.  Our word of the day comes from the Latin word for fertile, fecudus (fee KOON doos). Fecund may be used in a medical sense to refer to a pregnant woman, in a botanical sense, to refer to a fecund garden, or, in a figurative sense, as in: Kelly’s fecund mind ever ceases to astonish me. We never know what kind of creative idea she’ll come up wit...

Labile is an adjective that means easily altered or unstable. Labile originates from the Latin word labi (LAH bee) which means ‘fall’ or ‘slip.’ This is why in chemistry our word of the day is often used to mean ‘easily broken down’ or ‘displaced.’ In everyday use, labile may refer to a person’s health or their emotions, as in: It’s been a rough year for Randal. After all the ups and downs he’s ex...

Accretion a noun that means the process of gradual growth.  The Latin word for grow is accidere (ah CHEE dare ay), which, over time gradually grew into our word of the day. Accretion is often used to describe a natural process of growth that you may see in a lawn or a body of water. But it may also be used to describe something like a city’s growth. For example: the accretion of the downtown...

Hibernal is an adjective that means pertaining to winter.  The Latin word for winter is hibernum (HE burn um) which, over time, has evolved into words like hibernate and our word of the day hibernal, which refers to anything related to winter.  As I kid I loved winter. My favorite things included such hibernal activities as skiing, sledding and making snow angels.

Librate is an adjective that means to poise or remained balanced.  The Latin word for poise or balance is libramen (lee BRAHM en) where our word of the day comes from. It may be used in a scientific sense to refer, for example, to molecule holding in place by oscillating. Or it may be used in a more every day sense to simply mean ‘balance.’  It’s lovely to see those birds librate on the...