Word of the Day
de rigueur
adjective
strictly required, as by etiquette, usage, or fashion.
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Why Dictionary.com chose de rigueur
More about de rigueur
- De rigueur was borrowed into English from French around 1825–35.
- De rigueur in French means “of rigor” or “of strictness in etiquette.”
- Rigor entered English around 1350–1400 from the Latin word rigor, meaning “stiffness,” as in the Latin phrase rigor mortis, “the stiffening of the body after death.”
EXAMPLES OF DE RIGUEUR
- Wearing black tie attire is de rigueur at formal galas and high-end restaurants.
- Exchanging business cards before a meeting is still de rigueur in many Asian cultures.
queue
verb
to form in a line while waiting (often followed by up).
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Why Dictionary.com chose queue
More about queue
- Queue was first recorded in English in 1585–95.
- Queue comes via Middle French from the Latin word cauda or cōda, meaning “tail.”
- Queue, in the highlighted sense, is more commonly used in British English.
- The first recorded meaning of queue in English was “a band of parchment attached to a document and bearing a seal.”
EXAMPLES OF QUEUE
- The eager fans queued up outside the concert venue hours before the doors opened.
- The customers patiently queued behind the counter at the popular bakery to buy their favorite pastries.
tmesis
noun
the introduction of one or more words between the parts of a compound word.
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Why Dictionary.com chose tmesis
More about tmesis
- Tmesis was first recorded in 1580–90.
- Tmesis ultimately comes from the Greek word tmêsis, “a cutting,” which is from the stem of the Greek verb témnein, meaning “to cut,” combined with the suffix –sis that appears in loanwords from Greek.
- Other more common Greek loanwords with this suffix are thesis, “a proposition stated or put forward for consideration,” and stasis, “the state of equilibrium or inactivity caused by opposing equal forces.”
EXAMPLES OF TMESIS
- The TV show’s theme song begins with an example of tmesis, breaking up the word “superhero” to create emphasis: “Super-duper-hero!”
- The poet used a creative tmesis in the phrase “mind-bogglingly beautiful,” adding an extra word for poetic effect.
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