Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 27, 2012 is: vapid \VAP-id\ adjective : lacking liveliness, tang, briskness, or force : flat, dull Examples: The movie was billed as a gripping political thriller but turned out to be a vapid film with a slow pace and a poorly written script. "It seems natural to conclude from all this vapid, buoyant patter that neither candidate has a plausible blueprint to avoid political gridlock, and that, whoever wins, the stalemate of the past two years will grind on into the next four." — From an article by Jonathan Chait in New York Magazine, October 22, 2012 Did you know? "Then away goes the brisk and pleasant Spirits and leave a vapid or sour Drink." So wrote John Mortimer, an early 18th-century expert on agriculture, orchards, and cider-making, in his book on husbandry. His use was typical for his day, when "vapid" was often used specifically in reference to liquor. The term, which entered English in the 17th century, comes from "vapidus," a Latin word that means "flat-tasting" and may be related to "vapor." These days, you're likely to hear people referring to wine as "vapid." You're likely to hear the word in plenty of other situations, too. "Vapid," along with the synonyms "insipid," "flat," and "inane," is often used to describe people and things that lack spirit and character.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 26, 2012 is: sederunt \suh-DEER-unt\ noun : a prolonged sitting (as for discussion) Examples: "This letter is a report of a long sederunt ... at Davos Platz, Dec. 15, 1880." — From a letter by Robert Louis Stevenson, dated December 19, 1880 "A proposed schedule was passed, whereby (among other things) informal, job fair-style briefing groups will be held on Sunday afternoon, Monday morning will be devoted to an orientation for the entire assembly, and a regular business sederunt will commence Monday afternoon." — From an article in the Presbyterian Record, January 1, 2012 Did you know? "Sederunt" was summonsed by members of the Scottish Court of Session and other deliberative bodies during the 17th century to refer to the list of people present at meetings and to the "sittings" themselves. The word sat in deliberation for some time before being called upon by the general public as a word for any prolonged sitting, whether for relaxation, reading, casual discussion, or the like. "Sederunt" proved to be the right choice because it derives from Latin "sedēre," meaning "to sit."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 25, 2012 is: numen \NOO-mun\ noun : a spiritual force or influence often identified with a natural object, phenomenon, or place Examples: We were in a village that had hardly changed in a thousand years, and we felt a numen that transcended earthly religions and human histories. "For the Technology Man, the Internet is the glue that holds our globalized world together and the divine numen that fills it with meaning." — From a book review by Evgeny Morozov in The New Republic, November 3, 2011 Did you know? How did "numen," a Latin term meaning "nod of the head," come to be associated with spiritual power? The answer lies in the fact that the ancient Romans saw divine force and power operating in the inanimate objects and nonhuman phenomena around them. They believed that the gods had the power to command events and to consent to actions, and the idea of a god nodding suggested his or her awesome abilities—divine power. Eventually, Latin speakers began using "numen" to describe the special divine force of any object, place, or phenomenon that inspired awe (a mystical-seeming wooded grove, for example, or the movement of the sun), and "numen" made the semantic leap from "nod" to "divine will or power." English speakers adopted the word during the 1600s.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 24, 2012 is: obdurate \AHB-duh-rut\ adjective 1 a : stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing b : hardened in feelings 2 : resistant to persuasion or softening influences Examples: I pleaded with my boss for a second chance, explaining the unusual circumstances that had caused my tardiness, but he remained obdurate. "Even with a regime as obdurate as the one in Tehran, it's better to talk with one's adversaries than to freeze them out." — From an editorial in The Toronto Star, September 9, 2012 Did you know? When you are confronted with someone obdurate, you may end up feeling dour. During the encounter, you may find that you need to be durable to keep your sanity intact. Maybe you will find such situations less stressful in the future if you can face them knowing that the words "obdurate," "dour," "during," and "durable" are etymological cousins. All of those words trace back to the Latin adjective "durus," which means "hard." A form of this adjective can still be found in "dura mater," the name for the tough fibrous material that surrounds the brain and spinal cord; it comes from a Medieval Latin phrase meaning, literally, "hard mother."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 23, 2012 is: yahoo \YAH-hoo\ noun : a boorish, crass, or stupid person Examples: Henrietta had a few choice words for the yahoo who blocked her driveway with his pickup truck. "'The night watchman down there picked up something on a motion detector and looked around and saw these two yahoos trying to carry off a pretty good size chunk of bronze and aluminum,' said Marietta Police Capt. Jeff Waite." — From an article in the Marietta (Ohio) Times, September 25, 2012 Did you know? We know exactly how old "yahoo" is because its debut in print also marked its entrance into the English language as a whole. "Yahoo" began life as a made-up word invented by Jonathan Swift in his book Gulliver's Travels, which was published in 1726. The Yahoos were a race of brutes, with the form and vices of humans, encountered by Gulliver in his fourth and final voyage. They represented Swift's view of mankind at its lowest. It is not surprising, then, that "yahoo" came to be applied to any actual human who was particularly unpleasant or unintelligent. Yahoos were controlled by the intelligent and virtuous Houyhnhnms, a word which apparently did not catch people's fancy as "yahoo" did.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 22, 2012 is: cloister \KLOY-ster\ verb : to confine in or as if in a cloister : to shut away from the world Examples: Julie declared that she was going to cloister herself and study as hard as she could until the exam. "Cloistered for debate prep at a resort in Williamsburg, Va., the president devoted his weekly radio and internet address to the Obama administration's work to revive the U.S. auto industry." — From an Associated Press article by Nancy Benac and Kasie Hunt, October 13, 2012 Did you know? "Cloister" first entered the English language as a noun in the 13th century; it referred then (as it still does) to a convent or monastery. More than three centuries later, English speakers began using the verb "cloister" to mean "to seclude in or as if in a cloister." Today the noun can also refer to the monastic life or to a covered and usually arched passage along or around a court. You may also encounter "cloistered" with the meaning "surrounded with a covered passage," as in "cloistered gardens." "Cloister" ultimately derives from the Latin verb "claudere," meaning "to close." Other words that can be traced back to the prolific "claudere" include "close," "conclude," "exclude," "include," "preclude," "seclude," and "recluse."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 21, 2012 is: prestigious \preh-STIJ-us\ adjective : having an illustrious name or reputation : esteemed in general opinion Examples: She has become the youngest author ever to receive this prestigious literary award. "Check the results that year from the Great American Beer Festival, an annual Denver event widely seen as the nation's most prestigious brewing competition." — From an article by Peter Rowe in The San Diego Union-Tribune, October 12, 2012 Did you know? You may be surprised to learn that "prestigious" had more to do with trickery than with respect when it was first used in 1546. The earliest (now archaic) meaning of the word was "of, relating to, or marked by illusion, conjuring, or trickery." "Prestigious" comes to us from the Latin word "praestigiosis," meaning "full of tricks" or "deceitful." The words "prestige" and "prestigious" are related, of course, though not as directly as you might think; they share a Latin ancestor, but they entered English by different routes. "Prestige," which was borrowed from French in 1656, initially meant "a conjurer's trick," but in the 19th century it developed an extended sense of "blinding or dazzling influence." That change in turn influenced "prestigious," which now means simply "illustrious or esteemed."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 13, 2012 is: eructation \ih-ruk-TAY-shun\ noun : an act or instance of belching Examples: Excessive eructation is a common side-effect of that particular medication. "Granted, American political campaigns since 1789 have often been vicious, with presidential candidates accused (usually falsely) of sins ranging from bigamy, bribery and drunkenness to atheism, foreign birth or even habitual eructation." — From a column by Ed Corson in The Macon Telegraph (Georgia), October 15, 2010 Did you know? "Eructation" is simply a fancier, and some might argue a more decorous, word for "belch." "Eructation" was borrowed from Latin in the 15th century; the verb "eruct," meaning "to belch," followed in the late 16th century. Both have their source in the Latin verb "eructare," which is the frequentative form of "erugere," meaning "to belch or disgorge." (A frequentative form is one that denotes a repeated or recurrent action or state.) "Eructare" shares an ancestor with Greek word "ereugesthai" as well as Old English "rocettan," both of which also mean "to belch."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 12, 2012 is: biddable \BID-uh-bul\ adjective 1 : easily led, taught, or controlled : docile 2 : capable of being bid Examples: "The twins are well-behaved children, biddable, meek, neat about their clothes, and always mindful of the proprieties they have learned at summer hotels." — From Willa Cather's 1915 novel The Song of the Lark "The dogs are highly biddable, responding to whistles, hand signals, and during training, a red flag on a long pole." — From an article by Lou Fancher in Contra Costa Times (California), April 12, 2012 Did you know? A biddable individual is someone you can issue an order to—that is, someone who will do your bidding. The word dates to the late 18th century, and our earliest evidence for it is a quote in the Scottish National Dictionary. There are a number of words in English that do what "biddable" does. "Tractable," "amenable," and "docile" are three of them. As in the Cather quote above, "biddable" is often applied to children and indicates a ready, constant inclination to follow orders, requests, and suggestions. "Tractable" suggests characteristics that make for easy guiding, leading, ordering, or managing; its antonym "intractable" (as in "intractable problems") is more common. "Amenable" indicates a disposition to be agreeable or complaisant as well as a lack of assertive independence. "Docile" can stress a disposition to submit, either due to guidance and control or to imposition and oppression.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 11, 2012 is: flotsam \FLAHT-sum\ noun 1 : floating wreckage of a ship or its cargo; broadly : floating debris 2 a : miscellaneous or unimportant material b : debris, remains Examples: The young couple's apartment was adorned with the flotsam and jetsam of thrift stores and yard sales. "A current moves at its own pace and pushes along whatever flotsam it carries on the surface and below in a stream awash in chaos and chance." — From an article by Dave Golowenski in The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, October 7, 2012 Did you know? English speakers started using "flotsam," "jetsam," and "lagan" as legal terms in the 16th and 17th centuries. (The earliest evidence of "flotsam" dates from around 1607.) The three words were used to establish claims of ownership to the three types of sea-borne, vessel-originated goods they named. Flotsam was anything from a shipwreck. (The word comes from Old French "floter," meaning"to float.") Jetsam and lagan were items thrown overboard to lighten a ship. Lagan was distinguished from jetsam by having a buoy attached so the goods could be found if they sank. In the 19th century, when "flotsam" and "jetsam" took on extended meanings, they became synonyms, but they are still very often paired.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 10, 2012 is: dissemble \dih-SEM-bul\ verb 1 : to put on a false appearance : to conceal facts, intentions, or feelings under some pretense 2 : to hide (something) under a false appearance 3 : to put on the appearance of : simulate Examples: In order to stay on his bosses' good side, John dissembled about his intention to look for a new job at the end of the year. "His stints as an Illinois state senator and U.S. senator were brief and unimpressive. His record was thin. Regardless, the media establishment sold him as the most brilliant leader since President Franklin D. Roosevelt. They dissembled." — From a commentary by Jeffrey T. Kuhner in The Washington Times, October 5, 2012 Did you know? We don't have anything to hide: "dissemble" is a synonym of "disguise," "cloak," and "mask." "Disguise" implies a change in appearance or behavior that misleads by presenting a different apparent identity. "Cloak" suggests a means of hiding a movement or an intention. "Mask" suggests some often obvious means of hiding or disguising something. "Dissemble" (from Latin "dissimulare," meaning "to hide or conceal") stresses the intent to deceive, especially about one's own thoughts or feelings, and often implies that the deception is something that would warrant censure if discovered.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 09, 2012 is: kaput \kuh-PUT\ adjective 1 : utterly finished, defeated, or destroyed 2 : unable to function : useless 3 : hopelessly outmoded Examples: Shortly after Richard retired as CEO, the firm went kaput. "We humans casually disrobed on social networks and pranced about, then one day caught sight of ourselves in the mirror and are now, egad, desperately rifling through mountains of cast-off clothing for our own. Too late. Privacy is kaput...." — From an article by Betsy Shea-Taylor in The Sun Chronicle (Attleboro, Massachusetts), June 8, 2012 Did you know? "Kaput" originated with a card game called piquet that has been popular in France for centuries. French players originally used the term "capot" to describe both big winners and big losers. To win all twelve tricks in a hand was called "faire capot" ("to make capot"), but to lose them all was known as "être capot" ("to be capot"). German speakers adopted "capot," but respelled it "kaputt," and used it only for losers. When English speakers borrowed the word from German, they started using "kaput" for things that were broken, useless, or destroyed.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 08, 2012 is: stem-winder \STEM-wyne-der\ noun 1 : a stem-winding watch 2 : one that is first-rate of its kind; especially : a stirring speech Examples: Stuart is a stem-winder as a defense attorney. "In his 48-minute stem-winder Wednesday, the former president showed everyone why he's a master political communicator." — From an article by Linda Feldmann in The Christian Science Monitor, September 6, 2012 Did you know? The stem-winder is a watch wound by means of a stem, as opposed to the older method of winding with a key. The stem-winder was introduced to the marketplace in the late 19th century, and it wound up being such a hit with consumers that people soon turned to using the mechanism's name for exceptional people or things in general. Before "stem-winder" referred to a kind of watch, it was used in colloquial English (especially in the western part of the United States) as a word for a geared logging locomotive. Another name for such a locomotive is "corkscrew."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 07, 2012 is: comestible \kuh-MESS-tuh-bul\ adjective : edible Examples: The November issue of the magazine was filled with recipes for an old-fashioned Thanksgiving feast, including candied yams, homemade cranberry sauce, mincemeat pie, and other comestible delights. "This year's delegates (that's what people who attend the Oct. 25-29 [culinary] festival are called) will find a focus on comestible diversity across regions...." — From an article by Jamila Robinson in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 30, 2012 Did you know? Did you expect "comestible" to be a noun meaning "food"? You're probably not alone. As it happens, "comestible" is used both as an adjective and a noun. The adjective is by far the older of the two; it has been part of English since at least the 1400s. (In fact, one of its earliest known uses was in a text printed in 1483 by William Caxton, the man who established England's first printing press.) The noun (which is most often used in the plural form, "comestibles") dates only from 1837. It made its first appearance in a novel in which a character fortified himself with "a strong reinforcement of comestibles."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 06, 2012 is: bugbear \BUG-bair\ noun 1 : an imaginary goblin or specter used to excite fear 2 a : an object or source of dread b : a continuing source of irritation : problem Examples: The biggest bugbear of the skiing business is a winter with no snow. "Smartphones are getting better all the time, but one area that's always been a little bit of a bugbear with owners is the quality of the built-in camera. However, inventive third-party manufacturers have been quick to come up with their own solution to this particular snapping quandary." — From an article by Rob Clymo on MSN.co.uk, September 26, 2012 Did you know? "Bugbear" sounds like some kind of grotesque hybrid creature from fable or folklore, and that very well may be what the word's creator was trying to evoke. When the word entered English in the 16th century, it referred to any kind of creature made up to frighten someone—most often a child; in 1592, Thomas Nashe wrote of "Meere bugge-beares to scare boyes." The word combines "bug," an old word for goblin, with "bear," which is perhaps what such made-up creatures were described as resembling. The "source of dread or annoyance" sense came not long after. In the late 20th century, the word found new life as the name of a particular kind of creature in the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.