Word of the Day
bahuvrihi
noun
a compound noun or adjective in which the first word describes the person or object denoted by the second.
More about bahuvrihi
Bahuvrihi is from a Sanskrit word that literally means “having much rice.” In this rather meta way, bahuvrihi is itself a bahuvrihi. Sanskrit vrīhi and English rice may not look much alike, but they are indeed distantly related. Bahuvrihi was first recorded in English in the 1840s.
EXAMPLE OF BAHUVRIHI USED IN A SENTENCE
It was challenging to decide which bahuvrihi best described the hotheaded, dimwitted loudmouth.
polyped
noun
a being or object having many legs.
Why the Museum of Science chose polyped
To find out, watch this video from science communicator Maynard Okereke, better known as the Hip Hop M.D.
Learn more at the Museum of Science.
More about polyped
Poly- comes from Ancient Greek polýs, meaning “many,” while -ped is from Latin pēs, “foot,” meaning that polyped is a blend of roots from two different languages. An all-Greek version would be “polypod,” while an all-Latin version would be “multipod” instead. Polyped was first recorded in English around 1820.
EXAMPLE OF POLYPED USED IN A SENTENCE
Centipedes, millipedes, and several other kinds of polypeds scurried across the forest floor.
pwn
verb
to totally defeat or dominate, especially in a video or computer game.
More about pwn
Pwn is an intentional misspelling of the verb own, likely inspired by the adjacent O and P keys on QWERTY keyboards. Pwn is an example of leetspeak, a fanciful, tongue-in-cheek style of English spelling used online in informal contexts. Woot, also spelled w00t, is another example. Pwn was first recorded in English in the early 1990s.
EXAMPLE OF PWN USED IN A SENTENCE
“Ultimate pwnage,” the gamer remarked as she swiftly pwned the boss of the level.