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Word of the dayPrevious Week Next WeekMonday, July 02, 2018
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What is the origin of buttery?
The adjective buttery in the Middle Ages meant “containing butter”; by the 18th century it acquired additional meanings “having the consistency of butter; smeared with butter”; and in the mid-19th century the sense “grossly flattering, smarmy.” Butter, the noun from which buttery derives, is a borrowing of the Latin word būtȳrum “butter,” itself a borrowing from Greek boútyron “butter,” literally “cow cheese.” Būtȳrum was adopted by the West Germanic languages, e.g., Old English butere, English butter, Dutch boter, Old High German butera, and German Butter. Buttery entered English in the 14th century.Previous DayHow is buttery used?
Once Maloney began speaking there seemed no end to the words that poured from his whiskered lips, buttery words, words unreliable, words from which all sincerity had been drained to be replaced by a jovial condescension. Ralph McInerny, Celt and Pepper, 2002
His face adorned by a seraphic, buttery smile, he stood unmoved, while Miss Higglesby-Browne uttered cyclonic exhortations and reproaches ... Camilla E. L. Kenyon, "Spanish Doubloons," Sunset: The Pacific Monthly, March 1918
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Word of the daySunday, July 01, 2018
mind-pop
noun [mahynd-pop]Psychology Informal. a word, phrase, image, or sound that comes into the mind suddenly and involuntarily and is usually related to a recent experience.See Full DefinitionWhat is the origin of mind-pop?
Mind-pop was coined by Austrian psychologist George Mandler (1924–2016). It was first recorded in 2000–05.Previous DayHow is mind-pop used?
Mind-pops are more often words or phrases than images or sounds and they usually happen when someone is in the middle of a habitual activity that does not demand much concentration—perhaps when they are brushing their teeth or tying their shoes. Ferris Jabr, "Mind-Pops: Psychologists Begin to Study an Unusual form of Proustian Memory," Scientific American, May 23, 2012
... researchers can now see that having a mind pop activates the same region of the brain that's engaged when you're open to experience. ... Even when they are mixed and conflicted, they are signs of your creative brain in action. Srini Pillay, Tinker Dabble Try, 2017
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Word of the daySaturday, June 30, 2018
armamentarium
noun [ahr-muh-muhn-tair-ee-uhm, -men-]the aggregate of equipment, methods, and techniques available to one for carrying out one's duties: The stethoscope is still an essential part of the physician's armamentarium.See Full DefinitionWhat is the origin of armamentarium?
English armamentarium is taken straight from the Latin noun armāmentārium “armory, arsenal, storehouse for military equipment.” The base of the Latin compound noun is the neuter plural noun arma “arms, weapons,” from which the verb armāre “to fit or equip with weapons” derives. From the verb armāre and the suffix -mentum, used to form concrete objects, the noun armāmentum is formed. The resulting armāmentum is completed by the very common adjective and noun suffix -ārium (from -arius), showing location. Armamentarium entered English in the 17th century in the sense “arsenal.” The broader sense of armamentarium dates from the 19th century.Previous DayHow is armamentarium used?
By identifying a fresh target for therapy—the TB bacterium's waxy outer jacket—the new research lays the groundwork for adding to the armamentarium against TB ... Melissa Healy, "Scientists have a promising new approach for treating drug-resistant tuberculosis," Los Angeles Times, April 25, 2018
With such powerful tastes and bold sauces in the chef's armamentarium, one has to expect that not every dish will work. Peter Kaminsky, "Tompkins Square Riot," New York, March 25, 1996
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Word of the dayFriday, June 29, 2018
flexitarian
noun [flek-si-tair-ee-uhn]a person whose diet is mostly vegetarian but sometimes includes meat, fish, or poultry.See Full DefinitionWhat is the origin of flexitarian?
Flexitarian was first recorded in 1990-95. It’s a portemanteau of the words flexible and vegetarian.Previous DayHow is flexitarian used?
A flexitarian is someone who rarely, though occasionally, consumes meat, including red meat, poultry, and seafood. A climatarian is someone who eats less meat—especially the most energy-consuming meats, like beef and lamb—specifically for environmental reasons. Brian Kateman, "Beyond 'Vegetarian'," Atlantic, March 14, 2016
The moderate, conscious eater—the flexitarian—knows where the goal lies: a diet that’s higher in plants and lower in both animal products and hyperprocessed foods, the stuff that makes up something like three-quarters of what’s sold in supermarkets. Mark Bittman, "Healthy, Meet Delicious," New York Times, April 23, 2013
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Word of the dayThursday, June 28, 2018
transmundane
adjective [trans-muhn-deyn, tranz-; trans-muhn-deyn, tranz-]reaching beyond or existing outside the physical or visible world.See Full DefinitionWhat is the origin of transmundane?
Transmundane was first recorded in 1770-80. It combines Latin trans- “beyond” and mundane, which finds its roots in the Latin word meaning “world.”Previous DayHow is transmundane used?
Below me along the lifelines I was aware of many sailors joining in these observations, gazing dumbstruck at it as something transmundane. William Brinkley, The Last Ship, 1988
... a common labourer and a travelling tinker had propounded and discussed one of the most ancient theories of transmundane dominion and influence on mundane affairs. George Meredith, The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, 1859
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Word of the dayWednesday, June 27, 2018
What is the origin of farouche?
The adjective farouche, accented on the second syllable, shows that it is still an unnaturalized borrowing from French. The Old French adjective faroche, forasche derives from the Late Latin forāsticus “belonging outside or out of doors” (i.e., not fit to be inside), a derivative of the adverb and preposition forās (also forīs) “(to the) outside, abroad.” A similar semantic development can be seen in savage, from Middle French salvage, sauvage, from Medieval Latin salvāticus (Latin silvāticus) “pertaining to the woods.” Farouche entered English in the 18th century.Previous DayHow is farouche used?
He's a bit farouche, but I like the way he enthuses about what interests him. It's not put on. Richard Aldington, Death of a Hero, 1929
Many of the women in these stories are farouche--they're outsiders, they're troubled, they lack polish, they dream too much. Joy Williams, "Introducion" Fantastic Women: 18 tales of the surreal and the sublime from Tin House, 2011
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Word of the dayTuesday, June 26, 2018
benedict
noun [ben-i-dikt]a newly married man, especially one who has been long a bachelor.See Full DefinitionWhat is the origin of benedict?
Benedict is a familiar correction of Benedick (Benedicke), the former confirmed bachelor newly married in Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing (1600). Benedict as a common noun entered English in the 19th century.Previous DayHow is benedict used?
It had, when I first went to town, just become the fashion for young men of fortune to keep house, and to give their bachelor establishments the importance hitherto reserved for the household of a Benedict. Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Devereux, 1829
"Why are you so anxious for all England to be informed that you are a Benedict?" I enquired scornfully. Alan Dale, A Marriage Below Zero, 1889
