Word of the Day
cacao
noun
a small tropical American evergreen tree, cultivated for its seeds, the source of cocoa, chocolate, etc.
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Why Dictionary.com chose cacao
More about cacao
- Cacao is often confused with cocoa, which is a powder made from the seeds of the cacao.
- Cacao was first recorded in 1545–55, while cocoa entered English around 1670 as a variant of cacao.
- Cacao comes via Spanish from the Nahuatl word cacahuatl, which means the seeds of the cacao.
- Both cacao and cocoa are used as common names of the tree, but only cocoa is also used to refer to foods and drinks made from the seeds.
EXAMPLES OF CACAO
- The cacao tree thrives in the warm and humid climate of tropical regions.
- The production of high-quality chocolate starts with selecting the finest cacao beans available.
fartlek
noun
a training technique, used especially among runners, consisting of bursts of intense effort loosely alternating with less strenuous activity.
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Why Dictionary.com chose fartlek
More about fartlek
- Fartlek comes from a combination of the Swedish words fart, meaning “speed,” and lek, “play.”
- Fart is cognate with the English verb fare, meaning “to go, travel,” and lek may be related to English lark, “a carefree adventure; to have fun.” But it has a far more popular relative: LEGO, the name of a brand of interlocking plastic bricks, from Danish leg godt, meaning “to play well.”
- Fartlek was first mentioned in English in the periodical Scholastic Coach in 1952.
- Swedish national cross-country coach Gösta Holmér developed the technique in response to his team’s poor performances against their Finnish rivals in the 1930s.
EXAMPLES OF FARTLEK
- The coach designed a fartlek workout that would challenge her team both mentally and physically.
- Fartleks can be a great way for runners to improve their speed and endurance without getting bored with a monotonous training regimen.
mixtape
noun
a recording on a cassette tape, CD, or digital medium, consisting of music or songs selected by a single person.
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Why Dictionary.com chose mixtape
More about mixtape
- Mixtape is a combination of the words mix, from Latin mixtus, and tape, from Old English tæppe “strip (of cloth).”
- The phrase mix tape dates back to at least 1974, when it appeared in Robert E. Runstein’s Modern Recording Techniques.
- Mix tape soon became common enough to become one, unhyphenated word: mixtape.
- By the late 1990s, DJs were selling homemade mixtapes, compiling various artists’ songs together.
- Artists also began making their own mixtapes, even featuring original music.
EXAMPLES OF MIXTAPE
- My brother gave me a mixtape that he made for my birthday.
- She created a mixtape of her favorite songs from the ’90s.
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