Word of the Day
carte blanche
noun
unconditional authority; full discretionary power.
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Why Dictionary.com chose carte blanche
More about carte blanche
- First recorded in 1655–65 as blank, blanck, or blanche (without carte) in the card game sense.
- First recorded in 1700–10 in the sense “blank, signed document,” and in 1760–70 in the more general sense highlighted here, “discretionary power.”
- Comes from French and translates literally as “blank document.”
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EXAMPLES OF CARTE BLANCHE
- The director gave the lead actor carte blanche to improvise during certain key scenes.
- As the team captain, she had carte blanche to choose the starting lineup for each game.
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Why Dictionary.com chose quotidian
More about quotidian
- First recorded around 1300–50.
- Comes from Latin quotīdiānus, “daily,” which is similar to cottīdi(ē) “every day.”
- Quotīdiānus is formed from quot, “however many occur, every” and diē, a form of diēs, “day.”
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EXAMPLES OF QUOTIDIAN
- The journalist’s task is to uncover the hidden stories within the fabric of quotidian life and shed light on important societal issues.
- As an astronomer, I study the celestial bodies that shine in the sky each night, but it’s the quotidian beauty of a fading sunset that always captivates me.
amalgamate
verb
to mix or merge so as to make a combination; blend; unite.
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Why Dictionary.com chose amalgamate
More about amalgamate
- First recorded in 1635–45.
- Formed from amalgam, “an alloy of mercury with another metal.”
- Amalgam came from the combination of Arabic al, “the,” and malgham, from Greek málagma, “softening agent.”
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EXAMPLES OF AMALGAMATE
- The artist chose to amalgamate different art styles in her painting, resulting in a truly original piece.
- The chef amalgamated various flavors to create a unique culinary masterpiece.
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