Word of the Day
acmesthesia
noun
awareness of sharp points through the sense of touch without experiencing pain.
More about acmesthesia
Acmesthesia, “awareness of sharp points through touch without pain,” is based on Ancient Greek akmḗ, “point, highest point,” and aísthēsis, “sensation, perception.” Akmḗ comes from a family of words related to sharpness, whether literally or figuratively, both within and beyond Ancient Greek. For literal sharpness, compare English edge; Latin acus, “needle” (as in acupuncture and acute); and Ancient Greek oxýs, “sharp” (as in oxygen). For figurative sharpness, compare Latin ācer, “bitter” (as in acrid and acrimony); Latin acerbus, “sour, unripe” (as in exacerbate); Latin acidus, “sour” (as in acid); and Ancient Greek ákros, “topmost” (as in acrobat). Acmesthesia was first recorded in English circa 1910.
EXAMPLE OF ACMESTHESIA USED IN A SENTENCE
During the acupuncture session, she experienced acmesthesia and felt only minimal discomfort from the pinpricks.
Janus word
noun
a word that has opposite or nearly opposite meanings.
More about Janus word
Janus word, “a word that has opposite or nearly opposite meanings,” is the namesake of Janus, the literally two-faced Roman god of beginnings, doorways, and the movement of the sun. As we learned from the Word of the Day génoise, the name Janus is also the source of January (Latin Jānuārius) and related to jānus, “doorway, covered passage,” as in janitor. Janus words go by many alternative names, such as the Latin–Greek blend contranym (also contronym) or the purely Greek auto-antonym. Janus word was first recorded in English in the late 1930s, predating its alternatives.
EXAMPLE OF JANUS WORD USED IN A SENTENCE
Because the headline used the Janus word “sanction,” it was difficult to tell whether the government was approving or disapproving of the matter at hand.
epigenetic
adjective
noting or pertaining to the process by which the expression of genetic information is modified on a molecular level without a change to the DNA sequence.
More about epigenetic
Epigenetic, “pertaining to the process by which the expression of genetic information is modified on a molecular level,” is a compound of epi-, “on, over,” and genetic, which is formed from Ancient Greek génesis, “origin, source.” It may be easy to assume that gene is a shortened form of genetic, but the two are only distantly related. For more relatives of epigenetic, compare the Words of the Day gens du monde, iatrogenic, and kindred. Epigenetic was first recorded in English circa 1830, but its modern sense dates to the late 1950s.
EXAMPLE OF EPIGENETIC USED IN A SENTENCE
Forty years after their separation at birth, epigenetic reasons had made one twin start to go gray earlier than the other.