Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 07, 2014 is: chowderhead \CHOW-der-hed\ noun : dolt, blockhead Examples: "No matter how hard I have tried I cannot stop them from yelling 'Chowderhead!' and trying to poke one another's eyes out…." — From Elizabeth Berg's 2002 novel True to Form "Many of my fellow Americans enjoy the sport of football…. If you're like me, you often opine that you could run the team, the program, or the franchise in immeasurably greater fashion than the millionaire chowderheads currently employed to do so." — From an article by Timothy Geigner at Techdirt.com, January 1, 2014 Did you know? The "chowder" in "chowderhead" is neither New England or Manhattan (though one could speculate that a chowderhead has either type of clam chowder for brains). "Chowderhead" is a mispronunciation of "jolterhead," a derivative of the 16th-century insult "jolt head." Before being extended to a thickheaded person (i.e., a blockhead), the term "jolt head" was used literally for a large, heavy head. The etymology of "jolt head" is obscure; the term is likely connected somehow to the "jolt" that means "an abrupt jerky blow or movement," but the exact nature of the connection is not known.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 06, 2014 is: meed \MEED\ noun : a fitting return or recompense Examples: For his valor displayed on the field of battle, the knight was rewarded with his due meed of praise and gratitude from the king. "At the time, and thanks to Berger, it won its meed of attention because it was worth lots of money." — From an article by Christopher Hitchens in The Times Literary Supplement, October 5-10, 1990 Did you know? The word "meed" is one of the oldest terms in our language, having been part of English for about 1,000 years. An early form of the word appeared in the Old English classic Beowulf, and it can be found in works by literary luminaries including Geoffrey Chaucer, Edmund Spenser, John Milton, Alexander Pope, and Ben Jonson. Its Old English form, "mēd," is akin to terms found in the ancestral versions of many European languages, including Old High German, Old Swedish, and ancient Greek. In Modern English, the venerable "meed" is most likely to be found in poetic contexts.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 05, 2014 is: soigné \swahn-YAY\ adjective 1 : dressed with great care and elegance : well-groomed, sleek 2 : elegantly maintained or designed Examples: Wearing a fetching evening gown, Alyssa looked soigné and sophisticated and ready for the night's events. "'Nijinsky' opens in 1919 in a hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where the artist gave his final performance before sinking into madness, surviving until 1950. This solo performance in a soigne ballroom uncorks a flood of memories…." — From a dance review by Allan Ulrich in the San Francisco Chronicle, February 15, 2013 Did you know? Not surprisingly, "soigné" comes from French, where it serves as the past participle of the verb "soigner," meaning "to take care of." It first appeared in English in the 19th century and can be used to describe such things as an elegant wardrobe, a fancy restaurant, or the extravagant meal one might enjoy at such a restaurant. It can also be used to describe people, as in an article about fashion designer Donna Karan: "Though her name is really pronounced 'Karen,' people said it with a glamorous continental inflection; it suited their image of a fashion designer: aloof, soigné, different from you and me." (Josh Patner, The New York Times, April 11, 2004)

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 04, 2014 is: refulgence \rih-FULL-junss\ noun : a radiant or resplendent quality or state : brilliance Examples: The winning photo captured the refulgence of a full moon on a clear autumn night. "The sound the Philadelphia players mustered from the heroic opening bars of Brahms's Third Symphony was the orchestra's own, showing the richness and refulgence that are this institution's legacy." — From a review by Steve Smith in The New York Times, April 30, 2012 Did you know? "The full bow of the crescent moon peeps above the plain and shoots its gleaming arrows far and wide, filling the earth with a faint refulgence, as the glow of a good man's deeds shines for a while upon his little world after his sun has set, lighting the fainthearted travellers who follow on towards a fuller dawn." So British author Sir Henry Rider Haggard described the light of the moon in King Solomon's Mines. Haggard's example reflects both the modern meaning and the history of "refulgence." That word derives from Latin "refulgēre," which means "to shine brightly" and which is itself a descendant of the verb "fulgēre," meaning "to shine." By the way, "fulgēre" also underlies "effulgence," a shining synonym of "refulgence."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 03, 2014 is: simpatico \sim-PAH-tih-koh\ adjective 1 : agreeable, likeable 2 : being on the same wavelength : congenial, sympathetic Examples: Even though they weren't always simpatico with regard to the direction of their company, Jerry and Michael managed to be successful partners for more than 35 years. "Regular readers might be sick of my saying this, but there's nothing that will help you drink better wine more than getting to know a merchant or three, and letting them get to know you (or at least your palate). No holding back on your end, and you’ll know fairly quickly if you’ve found a simpatico soul." — From an article by Bill Ward in the Minnesota Star Tribune, December 24, 2013 Did you know? "Simpatico," which derives from the Greek noun "sympatheia," meaning "sympathy," was borrowed into English from both Italian and Spanish. In those languages, the word has been chiefly used to describe people who are well-liked or easy to get along with; early uses of the word in English reflected this, as in Henry James's 1881 novel The Portrait of a Lady, in which a character says of another's dying cousin, "Ah, he was so simpatico. I’m awfully sorry for you." In recent years, however, the word's meaning has shifted. Now we see it used to describe the relationship between people who get along well or work well together.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 02, 2014 is: malversation \mal-ver-SAY-shun\ noun 1 : misbehavior and especially corruption in an office, trust, or commission 2 : corrupt administration Examples: The city council impeached the mayor for administrative misconduct and malversation, charging that he has used his office primarily for personal gain. "The Office of the Ombudsman is still evaluating the plunder cases filed three months ago by the Department of Justice…. Included in the first batch of cases were 34 respondents, while at least 10 more legislators were charged, this time with malversation, early last month." — From an article by Christian V. Esguerra in the Philippines Daily Inquirer, December 30, 2013 Did you know? The form "mal-" is often a bad sign in a word, and "malversation" is no exception. In Middle French, "mal-" (meaning "bad," from the Latin word for "bad," "malus") teamed up with "verser" ("to turn, handle," from the Latin verb "vertere," "to turn ") to create "malverser," a verb meaning "to be corrupt." This in turn led to the French noun "malversation," which was adopted by English speakers in the mid-16th century. Some other "mal-" words that entered English from Middle French are "maladroit" ("inept"), "malcontent" ("discontented"), and "maltreat" ("to treat badly").

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 01, 2014 is: pusillanimous \pyoo-suh-LAN-uh-mus\ adjective : lacking courage and resolution : marked by contemptible timidity Examples: The senator resorted to mudslinging, calling his opponent "a pusillanimous pawn of special interest groups." "Here's the pusillanimous and unprincipled attitude of the RUSU [Reading University Student Union] and its sad ilk, offered in their own words: modern university students should not do anything to give offense, and if anyone claims offense, they should stop whatever they are doing immediately." — From a blog post by Ken White at Popehat.com, October 23, 2013 Did you know? Do you know someone who has a small, weak spirit, someone whose reserve of inner strength is too small to draw from in times of danger and adversity? If so, you'll find "pusillanimous" to be the perfect descriptor for that person. The Latin roots of this derisive adjective are "pusillus," meaning "very small" (and related to "pusus," meaning "boy") and "animus," which means "spirit" and is the ancestor to many words in our language, including "animal" and "animate." "Pusillanimous" first appeared in English in the 16th century, but it gained prominence in the 1970s when Vice President Spiro Agnew famously accused his ideological rivals of "pusillanimous pussyfooting."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 31, 2014 is: aerie \AIR-ee\ noun 1 : the nest of a bird on a cliff or a mountaintop 2 : an elevated often secluded dwelling, structure, or position Examples: Members of the royal family were seated in an aerie flanking the stage. "Besides scoring an aerie in the tallest, and most exquisitely renovated, building on the park, Mr. Alexander has nearly 2,000 feet of outdoor space divided among four terraces, one of which is 40 feet wide and provides views of the Chrysler Building." — From an article by Robin Finn in The New York Times, September 15, 2013 Did you know? English poet John Milton put a variant of "aerie" to good use in Paradise Lost (1667), writing, "… there the eagle and the stork / On cliffs and cedar tops their eyries build." But Milton wasn't the first to use the term, which comes to us via Medieval Latin and Old French and probably traces to an earlier Latin word for "nest" or "lair." English speakers had been employing "aerie" as a word for a bird's nest for more than a century when Milton penned those words. Eventually, "aerie" was applied to human dwellings as well as birds' nests. At first, this sense referred to dwellings nestled high up in mountains or hills. These days, you're also likely to hear high-rise city apartments or offices referred to as "aeries."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 30, 2014 is: passim \PASS-im\ adverb : here and there Examples: Readers will have no trouble determining the editor's opinions about the text, as her strongly worded footnotes appear passim. "Finally, may I say that I respect the views of those who have read and researched the same information as I, but reached the opposing conclusion, as displayed in your letter pages passim." — From a letter to the editor by Stephen Brown in the North Devon Journal, December 12, 2013 Did you know? "Passim" is from the Latin word "passus" ("scattered"), itself from "pandere," meaning "to spread." "Pandere" is the root of the common word "expand" and the not-so-common word "repand," meaning "having a slightly undulating margin" (as in "a repand leaf" or "a repand colony of bacteria"). It is also the progenitor of "pace," as in "keep up a steady pace." "Passim" itself appears in English both on its own and as part of the adverb "sic passim," which means "so throughout." "Sic passim" is typically used to indicate that a word or idea is to be found at various places throughout a book or a writer's work.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 29, 2014 is: logy \LOH-ghee\ adjective : marked by sluggishness and lack of vitality : groggy Examples: I was feeling logy after eating such a big meal, so I decided to take a brief nap. "I often feel logy before putting on a record that I'm slated to review, like I'm getting up in the morning for work. But that dissipates. The music soon becomes a pool cue that gets mental billiards rolling, points clacking against counterpoints." — From an album review by Carl Wilson in Slate Magazine, November 1, 2013 Did you know? Based on surface resemblance, you might guess that "logy" (also sometimes spelled "loggy") is related to "groggy," but that's not the case. "Groggy" ultimately comes from "Old Grog," the nickname of an English admiral who was notorious for his cloak made of a fabric called grogram—and for adding water to his crew's rum. The sailors called the rum mixture "grog" after the admiral. Because of the effect of grog, "groggy" came to mean "weak and unsteady on the feet or in action." No one is really sure about the origin of "logy," but experts speculate that it comes from the Dutch word "log," meaning "heavy." Its first recorded use in English, from an 1847 London newspaper, refers to a "loggy stroke" in rowing.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 28, 2014 is: rutilant \ROO-tuh-lunt\ adjective : having a reddish glow Examples: We all sat quietly around the campfire, each person's rutilant face mesmerized by the crackling flame. "I watched him with envy. He was tall and thin, having outgrown his pudge, while I was still layered with baby fat, rutilant cheeks glowing like apples." — From Doug Crandell's 2004 memoir Pig Boy’s Wicked Bird Did you know? "Rutilant," which first appeared in English late in the 15th century, is used in English today to describe anything with a reddish or fiery glow, such as a sunset or flushed skin. It derives from Latin "rutilus," meaning "ruddy," which is probably related to Latin "ruber," meaning "red." "Ruber" itself is a direct ancestor of our word "rubella" (a disease named for the reddish color one's skin turns when afflicted with the condition) and "rubric" (which, among other things, can refer to a book or manuscript heading that is done or underlined in red). "Ruber" is also a distant relative of several English words for things that bear a reddish tone (including "russet," "rouge," and "ruby") and even of the word "red" itself.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 27, 2014 is: conflate \kun-FLAYT\ verb 1 a : to bring together : fuse b : confuse 2 : to combine (as two readings of a text) into a composite whole Examples: The professor warned us to be careful not to conflate the two similar theories. "Some people are bound to conflate your onscreen character Marie with your real-life self." — From an interview by Clark Collis in Entertainment Weekly, December 6, 2013 Did you know? We're not just blowing hot air when we tell you that "conflate" can actually be traced back to the same roots as the English verb "blow." "Conflate" derives from "conflatus," the past participle of the Latin verb "conflare" ("to blow together, to fuse"), which was formed by combining the prefix "com-" with the verb "flare," meaning "to blow." The source of Latin "flare" is the same ancient root word that gave us "blow." Other descendants of "flare" in English include "afflatus" ("a divine imparting of knowledge or power"), "inflate," "insufflation" ("an act of blowing"), and "flageolet" (a kind of small flute—the "flageolet" referring to a green kidney bean is unrelated).

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 26, 2014 is: visage \VIZ-ij\ noun 1 : the face, countenance, or appearance of a person or sometimes an animal 2 : aspect, appearance Examples: The model's severe, smoldering visage appears to gaze with contempt from billboards throughout the city. "The image that best sums up this disastrous Knicks season lies right there on the sidelines, on the incredible, incredulous visage of haggard coach Mike Woodson." — From a post by Ben Yakas at Gothamist.com, December 26, 2013 Did you know? Writers occasionally come face-to-face with the fact that "face" is a pretty generic word that seems to have no ordinary synonyms. But it has a few synonyms of the high-flown variety. "Physiognomy," for instance, refers to facial features or expression thought to reveal qualities of mind or character ("I thought I could detect in his physiognomy a mind owning better qualities than his father ever possessed…."—Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights). "Countenance" is usually used to refer to one's face and the mood revealed by it ("Mina struggled hard to keep her brave countenance…."—Bram Stoker, Dracula). "Visage" works double duty, referring to both physical appearance and a display of emotion. It can also refer to the appearance of nonliving things, as in "the dirty visage of the old abandoned factory."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 25, 2014 is: stymie \STYE-mee\ verb : to present an obstacle to : stand in the way of Examples: Progress on the project has been stymied by lack of funds. "Even the town's initiatives couldn't stop someone from buying Wagner's land and developing it with houses. The only safeguards lie in the forest's marshes and hills that might stymie much development." — From an article by Taylor W. Anderson in the Chicago Tribune, December 12, 2013 Did you know? Golf was being played in Scotland as early as the 15th century, but it wasn't until the 19th century that the sport really caught on in England and North America. It was also in the 19th century that the word "stymie" entered English as a noun referring to a golfing situation in which one player's ball lies between another ball and the hole on the putting green, thereby blocking the line of play. Later, "stymie" came to be used as a verb meaning "to bring into the position of, or impede by, a stymie." By the early 20th century, the verb was being applied in similarly vexing non-golf contexts.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 24, 2014 is: acephalous \ay-SEF-uh-lus\ adjective 1 : lacking a head or having the head reduced 2 : lacking a governing head or chief Examples: Having no head capsule, the larva is acephalous. "Mouskas believes there is ample room to improve the Cyprus shipping registry including appointing a director at the Department of Merchant Shipping (DMS), which has been acephalous since Sergios Serghiou retired two and half years ago." — From an article by Charles Savva at mondaq.com, updated December 2, 2013 Did you know? The English word "acephalous" was borrowed from Medieval Latin, in which it meant "headless" and was chiefly used to describe clerics not under a bishop or lines of verse having the first foot missing or abbreviated. The fountainhead of these meanings is the Greek word "kephalē," meaning "head." Other English descendants of "kephalē" include "cephalic," meaning "of or relating to the head" or "directed toward or situated on or in or near the head," and "encephalitis," meaning "inflammation of the brain."