Word of the Day
chicanery
noun
trickery or deception by quibbling or the use of false arguments.
More about chicanery
Chicanery, “trickery by quibbling,” is an adaptation of French chicanerie, from the verb chicaner, which is typically translated as “to quibble” or “to split hairs” and once referred specifically to legal contexts. Appropriate for its meaning, the origin of French chicaner is controversial. One possible derivation is from a Germanic root meaning “to arrange” that is also the source of chic (via German Schick, “skill”). Alternatively, chicaner may be a merger of chic-, a common Romance element indicating smallness (compare chinchy and Spanish chico, “boy”), and ricaner, “to snicker.” Chicanery was first recorded in English circa 1610.
EXAMPLE OF CHICANERY USED IN A SENTENCE
Though the judge dismissed the lawsuit on a technicality, the prosecutors knew that it was the defense attorney’s chicanery that had successfully distracted from the matter at hand.
More about trachle
Trachle, “to fatigue, tire,” is of uncertain origin, but the leading hypothesis is that the term comes from dialectal Dutch tragelen, “to walk laboriously,” related to standard Dutch traag, “slow, sluggish.” Another option is that trachle is a variant of draggle, “to trail on the ground, follow slowly,” which is formed from drag. English drag is closely related to Dutch dragen and German tragen, both meaning “to carry,” which bear an intriguing resemblance to dialectal Dutch tragelen above, though this is probably a coincidence. Trachle was first recorded in English in the 1540s.
EXAMPLE OF TRACHLE USED IN A SENTENCE
The long walk into town thoroughly trachled the horses as they pulled the carriage through the falling snow.
More about leveret
Leveret, “a young hare,” comes by way of Old French lievre, “hare,” from Latin lepus (stem lepor-), of the same meaning. Though English hare and Latin lepus are unrelated, they both exemplify rhotacism. As we learned from the Word of the Day rhotacize, s and z sounds often become r in numerous world languages, and both English and Latin are no exceptions. While Germanic hazōn evolved into Old English hara and then English hare, Latin lepus changed to lepor- in its plural and object forms. Leveret was first recorded in English in the early 15th century.
EXAMPLE OF LEVERET USED IN A SENTENCE
We found the tiny leverets waiting patiently for food in their nest.