Word of the Day

Today’s word of the day is tutelage, T-U-T-E-L-A-G-E. Tutelage is a noun that means guiding influence. The Latin word tueri (too AIR ee) means to guard. But as often happens to words of ancient origin, its meaning shifted over time, and words derived from tueri came to refer to a teacher or guiding influence. That’s how we get words like tutor and tuition. It’s also how being ‘under someone’s tute...

Today’s word of the day is bathetic. It’s spelled B-A-T-H-E-T-I-C. Bathetic means trite or sentimental. Loosely connected to the similar sounding pathetic, bathetic has its roots in Ancient Greek. Pathos comes from a Greek word meaning ‘evoking pity,’ while bathos originally meant ‘depth,’ which came to mean ‘excessively sentimental.’ A movie character that brings you to tears of sadness is pathet...

Today's word of the day is deportment. It's spelled D-E-P-O-R-T-M-E-N-T. Deportment is a noun that means behavior; the way one conducts oneself. The French word for 'to carry away,' deporter (day por TAY) gives us the origin of deportment. It also gives us the origin of deport, meaning 'to remove from the country.' This is an example of how a word's origin can branch off to two very different word...

Today's word of the day is blithesome, B-L-I-T-H-E-S-O-M-E. Blithesome is an adjective that means cheerful and happy. A combination of the Old English word blithe that simply means happy and the suffix 'some' that indicates 'a tendency toward' -- as in wholesome, awesome or bothersome -- gets us to blithesome, a word that, given its Old English origin, usually sounds best when used in an old world...

Today's word of the day is nimiety. It's spelled N-I-M-I-E-T-Y. Nimiety is a noun that means an excess or redundancy (of something). The Latin word for 'excessive' is nimietas (nuh MY uh tus) but don't confuse nimiety for 'excessive' in the pejorative sense, as in, 'I found your speech to be excessive.' Instead think: if you're looking for a snack before dinner, you'll find a nimiety of options in...

Today’s word of the day is allegiant. Allegiant is an adjective that means faithful or loyal. It’s spelled A-L-L-E-G-I-A-N-T. Fred is an allegiant employee. He’s been with us for seventeen years takes his duty seriously and has never once been tempted to seek employment elsewhere. Allegiant, dear listener, is not a word to be used casually. Its Middle English roots stem from the word Liege which r...

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