Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 05, 2012 is: inimitable \in-IM-it-uh-bul\ adjective : not capable of being imitated : matchless Examples: "He is involved in roughly six projects, most of them part time and some dormant. Each is different from the others and to each, say those who work with him, he adds something inimitable." — From an article by Timothy Finn in the Kansas City Star, July 18, 2012 "For decades after '60 Minutes' launched in 1968, Wallace was arguably the best-known news figure on television, after Walter Cronkite. Wallace was to 'the interview' what Cronkite had been to the anchor chair—an authority figure with an inimitable style that was both aggressive and seductive." — From an article by Verne Gay in Newsday (Long Island, New York), April 9, 2012 Did you know? Something that is inimitable is, literally, not able to be imitated. In actual usage the word describes things so uniquely extraordinary as to not be copied or equaled, which is why you often hear it used to praise outstanding talents or performances. (The antonym "imitable" describes things that are common or ordinary and could easily be replicated or surpassed.) "Inimitable" derives via Middle English from Latin "inimitabilis." Be careful not to confuse it with "inimical" or "inimicable," two adjectives meaning hostile or harmful; those words derive from the same Latin root that gave us "enemy" ("inimicus").

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 04, 2012 is: ecstatic \ek-STAT-ik\ adjective : of, relating to, or marked by rapturous delight Examples: Naomi's face was ecstatic as she accepted first prize in the essay contest. "Jordan Staal would much rather play with his brother than against him. Traded on his wedding day in June, he became teammates with older brother Eric Staal on the Carolina Hurricanes. 'We knew the family thing was a very intriguing part of this whole thing,' Jordan said Friday at a press conference, according to the Raleigh News & Observer. '... As a family, for me and Eric especially, we're ecstatic to have this come together as it did.'" — From an article on NHL.com, July 27, 2012 Did you know? "Ecstatic" has been used in our language since at least 1590, and the noun "ecstasy" is even older, dating from the 1300s. Both derive from the Greek verb "existanai" ("to put out of place"), which was used in a Greek phrase meaning "to drive someone out of his or her mind." That seems an appropriate history for words that can describe someone who is nearly out of his or her mind with intense emotion. In early use, "ecstatic" was sometimes linked to mystic trances, out-of-body experiences, and temporary madness. Today, however, it most typically implies a state of enthusiastic excitement or intense happiness.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 03, 2012 is: caduceus \kuh-DOO-see-us\ noun 1 : the symbolic staff of a herald; specifically : a representation of a staff with two entwined snakes and two wings at the top 2 : an insignia bearing a caduceus and symbolizing a physician Examples: The U.S. Army Medical Corps chose the caduceus as its symbol in 1902. "Since then the politics of health care have grown more twisted and tangled than the two snakes entwined around the staff in a caduceus, which is sometimes used as a symbol of medicine." — From an article by Michael Cooper in The New York Times, February 15, 2012 Did you know? The Greek god Hermes, who served as herald and messenger to the other gods, carried a winged staff entwined with two snakes. The staff of Aesculapius, the god of healing, had one snake and no wings. The word ''caduceus," from Latin, is a modification of Greek "karykeion," from "karyx," meaning "herald." Strictly speaking, "caduceus" should refer only to the staff of the herald-god Hermes (Mercury to the Romans), but in practice the word is often applied to the one-snake staff as well. You might logically expect the staff of Aesculapius to be the symbol of the medical profession—and indeed, that is the symbol used by the American Medical Association. But you will also quite frequently see the true caduceus used as a medical symbol.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 02, 2012 is: wend \WEND\ verb : to direct one's course : travel, proceed Examples: The hikers wended through the forest's trails. "Improvements in wastewater treatment and conservation upgraded the water quality of the river, which wends its way nearly 500 miles from its origin in the Appalachian Plateau to Point Lookout, Maryland, where it empties into the Chesapeake Bay." — From an article by John Pekkanen in The Washingtonian, July 2012 Did you know? "Wend" is related to the verb "wind," which means, among other things, "to follow a series of curves and turns." It is also a distant relative of the verb "wander." "Wend" itself began its journey in Old English as "windan," meaning "to twist." "Wend" has twisted itself into various meanings over the years. Most of its senses—including "to come about," "to depart," "to change," and "to betake"—have since wandered off into obscurity, but its current sense of "to direct or to proceed" is holding steady on the path.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 01, 2012 is: aborning \uh-BOR-ning\ adverb : while being born or produced Examples: The bill was introduced in the Senate last year, but it died aborning. "We've all put aside the social task that we wanted to take the time to do well, postponed the email that should be long and full, only to realize we never did it at all. The dashed-off note that gets sent is preferable to the heartfelt missive that dies aborning." — From Emily Yoffe's Dear Prudence column on Slate.com, May 3, 2012 Did you know? "Aborning" is a native of U.S. soil; its arrival is marked in the early 20th century dialect of the rural South, and it quickly found its way to the crowded cities and towns of the industrial north. (We don't know exactly when it was conceived, but it came to the attention of the editors at Merriam-Webster in 1916.) "Aborning" combines the prefix "a-," meaning "in the process of," and "borning," a dialectal word meaning "birth." "Borning" itself is simply the gerund, or noun form, of the verb "born," a term that was used by, among others, William Faulkner: "The talk ... went here and there about the town, dying and borning again like a wind or a fire" (Light in August, 1932).

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 31, 2012 is: inspissate \in-SPISS-ayt\ verb : to make or become thick or thicker Examples: "Marmalade of carrots is the juice of yellow carrots, inspissated till it is of the thickness of fluid honey, or treacle, which last it resembles both in taste and color." — From Capt. James E. Cook's 1777 book A Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the World, Volume 1 "Estrogen and progesterone affect direction and flow of tubal secretions, which may accumulate, inspissate, and eventually calcify." — From Gary B. Siskin's 2009 book Interventional Radiology in Women’s Health Did you know? "Inspissate" is ultimately derived from Latin "spissus" ("slow, dense") and is related to Greek "spidnos" ("compact") and Lithuanian "spisti" ("to form a swarm"). When it appeared in English in the 17th century, "inspissate" suggested a literal thickening. Francis Bacon, for example, wrote in 1626 that "Sugar doth inspissate the Spirits of the Wine, and maketh them not so easie to resolue into Vapour." Eventually "inspissate" was also used metaphorically. Clive Bell once wrote of "parties of school children and factory girls inspissating the gloom of the museum atmosphere." There is also an adjective "inspissate," meaning "thickened in consistency" or "made thick, heavy, or intense," but that word is used even less frequently than the somewhat rare verb.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 30, 2012 is: servile \SER-vul\ adjective 1 : of or befitting a slave or a menial position 2 : meanly or cravenly submissive : abject Examples: Maura was embarrassed at the way her mother demanded servile behavior from store employees. "In a communique read from atop of the small truck, they criticised the national unions for placing too little importance on health concerns and being servile to the factory owners." — From an article by Steve Scherer on Reuters.com, August 2, 2012 Did you know? Latin served us "servile" with the help of "servilis," itself from "servus," the Latin word for "slave." "Servus" is also an ancestor of "serve," "service," and "servitude." Synonyms of "servile" in English include "subservient," "slavish," and "obsequious." "Subservient" implies the cringing manner of one very conscious of a subordinate position." "Slavish" suggests abject or debased servitude. "Obsequious" implies fawning or sycophantic compliance and exaggerated deference of manner. "Servile" suggests the mean or fawning behavior of a slave.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 29, 2012 is: benison \BEN-uh-sun\ noun : blessing, benediction Examples: The candidate sought the benison of the popular pastor in the hope of gaining both spiritual and political support. "On warm(ish) days, the soft rain feels like a benison, pattering gently on fallen leaves and stirring up earthy scents that remind me more of spring than autumn." — From an article by Ann Lovejoy in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 4, 2008 Did you know? "Benison" and its synonym "benediction" share more than a common meaning; the two words come from the same root, the Latin "benedicere," meaning "to bless." ("Benedicere" comes from the Latin "bene dicere"—"to speak well of"—a combination of the Latin "bene," meaning "well," and "dicere," to say.) Of the two words, "benediction" is more common today, but "benison" has a longer history in English. Records show that "benison" has been used in our language since the early 14th century. "Benediction" didn't appear in print until nearly a century later.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 28, 2012 is: aliment \AL-uh-munt\ noun : food, nutriment; also : sustenance Examples: "In the Propontis, as far as I can learn, none of that peculiar substance called brit is to be found, the aliment of the right whale." — From Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby Dick "Until well into the nineteenth century, the notion of a well-balanced diet had occurred to no one. All food was believed to contain a single vague but sustaining substance—'the universal aliment.' A pound of beef had the same value for the body as a pound of apples or parsnips or anything else...." — From Bill Bryson's 2010 book At Home: A Short History of Private Life Did you know? These days you're most likely to encounter "aliment" as a typo for "ailment," but the word was less of a rarity in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. And the word's history goes back even further than that. It dates to the 15th century and comes from Latin "alere," meaning "to nourish," by way of "alimentum." Although "aliment" is uncommon in today's English, you may recognize it in the somewhat technical term "alimentary canal"—the name for the long tube in the body through which food passes after it is eaten. "Aliment" also functions as a verb meaning "to give aliment to," or "to nourish or sustain."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 27, 2012 is: sansculotte \sanz-koo-LAHT\ noun 1 : an extreme radical republican in France at the time of the Revolution 2 : a radical or violent extremist in politics Examples: "At the time of the French Revolution, the rampaging sansculottes wrecked churches and every sign of monarchal or religious authority." — From Peter Manseau's 2009 book Rag and Bone "Anyone who has toyed before a mirror with something as simple as a cap or as exotic as a turban understands the almost mystical power of head coverings to transform us.... Revolutionaries have adopted them, from Che Guevara's beret to the red Phrygian cap worn by the sansculottes as a symbol of allegiance to the French Revolution, while many an aristocratic head rolled." — From an article by Leslie Carnhi in Vogue, May 2012 Did you know? At the time of the French Revolution (1787-1799), knee breeches ("culottes" in French) were the height of fashion for aristocratic men. The men of the general populace could not afford such impractical finery and instead wore the "pantaloon" (long trousers). When the poorer classes rose up against the government, members of the Revolutionary army used this difference in dress to distinguish themselves from the aristocracy, calling themselves "soldats sans culottes," literally, "soldiers without culottes." Almost immediately, "sansculotte" became a noun in both French and English.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 26, 2012 is: sedulous \SEJ-uh-lus\ adjective 1 : involving or accomplished with careful perseverance 2 : diligent in application or pursuit Examples: Daphne was a sedulous student whose hard work and determination earned her a number of college scholarships. "We were sedulous. We were driven. Our vocabularies were formidable and constantly expanding." — From a short story by Molly Patterson in The Atlantic, May 21, 2012 Did you know? No fooling—the word "sedulous" ultimately comes from the Latin "se dolus," which literally means "without guile." Those two words were eventually melded into one, "sedulo," meaning "sincerely" or "diligently," and from that root developed Latin "sedulus" and English "sedulous." Don’t let the "sed-" beginning mislead you; "sedulous" is not related to words such as "sedentary" or "sedate" (which derive from the Latin verb "sedēre," meaning "to sit"). "Sedulous" people are not the sedate or sedentary sort. They're the hardworking types Scottish author Samuel Smiles must have had in mind when he wrote in his 1859 book Self-Help, "Sedulous attention and painstaking industry always mark the true worker."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 25, 2012 is: belaud \bih-LAWD\ verb : to praise usually to excess Examples: Supporters belauded the idea as a magic bullet for all social problems in the country. "Several cheers went up. Piccard, unaware of the scene unfolding behind him, seemed to think they were meant to belaud his plan." — From Jake Silverstein's 2011 book Nothing Happened and Then It Did: A Chronicle in Fact and Fiction Did you know? You may recognize the word "laud" (meaning "to praise or extol") in "belaud." In fact, "belaud" was formed by combining the prefix "be-" and the verb "laud." Since "be-" can denote both "to a greater degree" and "excessively or ostentatiously," it perhaps should come as no surprise that while "laud" may imply praise to a deserved degree, "belaud" often has the connotations of unreasonable or undeserved praise. Incidentally, both "laud" and by extension "belaud" derive from the Latin verb "laudare," which in turn traces back to "laud-," meaning "praise." Other descendants of "laud-" in English include "laudatory," "laudable," and even "laudation," meaning "an act of praising."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 24, 2012 is: never-never land \nev-er-NEV-er-LAND\ noun : an ideal or imaginary place Examples: Lester seems to think he lives in some kind of never-never land where people don't have to accept responsibility for their actions. "China's pride of ownership is all too familiar to most Taiwanese, who are constantly bombarded by Beijing's assertions that they live in a political never-never land, lacking all the elementary accouterments of statehood." — From an Associated Press article by Annie Huang, February 16, 2012 Did you know? The phrase "never-never land" is linked to Peter Pan, although it did not originate with that creation of the Scottish playwright Sir James Barrie. In Barrie's original 1904 play, Peter befriends the real-world children of the Darling family and spirits them off for a visit to Never Land, where children can fly and never have to become adults. Then, in his 1908 sequel When Wendy Grew Up, Barrie changed the name to Never Never Land, and subsequent versions of the earlier play incorporated that change. People had been using "never-never land" for a place that was overly idealistic or romantic since at least 1900, but the influence of Peter Pan on the word's popularity and staying-power cannot be discounted.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 23, 2012 is: dundrearies \dun-DREER-eez\ noun plural : long flowing sideburns Examples: Many of the Civil War reenactors were sporting dundrearies to give their costumes a look of authenticity. "Although as a Victorian man he lacks the vocabulary to express it, he is living out the existentialist crisis, confronting absurdity and nothingness in cravat and dundrearies." — From Thomas C. Foster's 2008 book How to Read Novels Like a Professor: A Jaunty Exploration of the World's Favorite Literary Form Did you know? In the United States, Our American Cousin by Tom Taylor is often best remembered as the play Abraham Lincoln was watching at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., when he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Word lovers may also recall that the show gave us "dundrearies," a name for the long, bushy sideburns (called "Piccadilly weepers" in England). The term for that particular men's hair fashion, which was popular between 1840 and 1870, comes from the name of Lord Dundreary, a character in the play who sported those elegant whiskers. The name can also be used in the attributive form "dundreary whiskers."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 22, 2012 is: ramose \RAY-mohss\ adjective : consisting of or having branches Examples: "On a coral reef something analogous happens when ramose corals grow upward to create a structure resistant to waves and current...." — Les S. Kaufman in Coral Reef Restoration Handbook, 2006 "This decision pushed the Iraqi scene into ramose labyrinths and added to the extremely complex questions...." — From an article by BBC Monitoring, April 21, 2010 Did you know? The adjective "ramose" is used to describe things that are branched, as in "ramose sponges," "ramose corals," or even "ramose trees." This branching can also be figurative, as in our second example above. "Ramose" was borrowed from the Latin "ramosus" ("branched") in the 17th century. In the 15th century, the Latin "ramosus" had also been borrowed by English, by way of the Middle French "rameux," as "ramous," a word nearly identical in meaning and usage to "ramose." The root of "ramosus," the Latin noun "ramus" ("branch"), is also the source, by way of Medieval Latin "ramificare" and Middle French "ramifier," of the English verb "ramify."