Word of the Day
Word of the day
delegate
noun
a person designated to act for or represent another or others; deputy; representative, as in a political convention.
What is the origin of delegate?
English delegate ultimately comes from Latin dēlēgātus “appointee,” a noun use of the past participle of the verb dēlēgāre “to appoint, assign,” a compound of the prefix dē- “away (from here)” and the simple verb lēgāre “to send as an envoy, depute,” a derivative of the noun lex (stem lēg-) “law” (source of legal and, via Old French, loyal). Formerly in U.S legal and constitutional usage, a delegate was the title of a representative of a state in the First Continental Congress (1774), and later the title of the representative of a Territory in the U.S. House of Representatives. Delegate entered English in the 14th century.
how is delegate used?
By the end of Super Tuesday, more than a third of all convention delegates will have been pledged nationally.
By the mid-1960s, Nixon was still regarded as a joke by the national press and the national party structure, but he found himself with more and more friends at the party’s local level, friends who would eventually be delegates to the 1968 Republican Convention.
Word of the day
astronaut
noun
a person engaged in or trained for spaceflight.
Why NASA chose astronaut
Calling all astrophiles! Today, March 2, NASA begins accepting applications for their next class of astronauts. Do you have what it takes to become a "star sailor"? Watch this video to find out!
What is the origin of astronaut?
Astronaut entered the orbit of English speakers in the late 1800s from the realm of science fiction. The first recorded instance comes from an 1880 novel by Percy Greg called Across the Zodiac: The Story of a Wrecked Record, in which Astronaut is the name of the narrator’s spacecraft. The sense under discussion today, “a person engaged in or trained for spaceflight,” emerged in the 1920s, decades before the launch of Sputnik (1957) marked the beginning of the Space Age. Astronaut is a compound of astro– “pertaining to stars or celestial bodies or to activities, as spaceflight, taking place outside the earth’s atmosphere,” from Greek ástron “star, constellation,” and –naut a combining form meaning “traveler,” from Greek naútēs “sailor.”
how is astronaut used?
In the latter part of the twentieth century, those fantasies [of conquering space] were replaced by actual vehicles which could venture into space and a daring new breed of hero—the astronaut.
From the very beginning this “astronaut” business was just an unbelievable good deal. It was such a good deal that it seemed like tempting fate for an astronaut to call himself an astronaut, even though that was the official job description.
Word of the day
habitué
noun
a frequent or habitual visitor to a place: a habitué of art galleries.
What is the origin of habitué?
Habitué, “a frequent or habitual visitor,” still feels very French in its spelling and pronunciation. Habitué is often used for someone who frequents places of recreation or amusement, such as poolrooms, bars, or used bookstores. French habitué is a noun use of the masculine past participle of the verb habituer “to frequent,” from Late Latin habituāre, a derivative of the Latin noun habitus “state, state of being, condition.” Habitué entered English in the 19th century.
how is habitué used?
Mr. Zegen is a hunter and gatherer of no mean talent, a gift he said he inherited from his mother, a habitué of garage, estate and yard sales, who scored the red-and-black rug on the floor in the living room.
Word of the day
intercalary
adjective
inserted or interpolated in the calendar, as an extra day or month.
What is the origin of intercalary?
February 29 presents the perfect opportunity to get acquainted with the word intercalary, as this extra “leap” day, intended to reconcile the solar calendar with the seasons, is itself just that. The adjective intercalary, “inserted or interpolated in the calendar, as an extra day or month,” comes straight from Latin intercalārius, intercalāris, interkalāris of the same meaning. It is a derivative of the verb intercalāre, interkalāre “to intercalate, delay, postpone,” a compound formed of the familiar preposition and prefix inter, inter– “between, among” and the simple verb calāre, kalāre “to announce, proclaim, summon.” The Latin noun kalendae, calendae means “the calends, the first day of the month, the day on which were proclaimed the nones (the ninth day before the ides) and the ides (the fifteenth or thirteenth day of the month).” Intercalary entered English in the early 17th century.
how is intercalary used?
Today, you see, is a leap day, the intercalary anomaly that allows “leaplings” in their 80s to pretend they’re in their 20s ….
It closely follows the present calendar, but becomes perpetual by readjustment of the length of some months, equalization of the quarters and insertion of intercalary days.
Word of the day
echelon
noun
a level of command, authority, or rank: After years of service, she is now in the upper echelon of city officials.
What is the origin of echelon?
In English, echelon originally had a military sense, “military forces advancing in a steplike formation.” Around 1950, echelon acquired the originally American sense “grade or rank in any administration or profession.” Echelon comes from French echelon, originally “rung of a ladder,” from Old French eschelon, formed from the noun eschele, eschiele “ladder” (from Latin scāla) and the augmentative suffix –on (an augmentative suffix, when added to a noun, denotes increased size or intensity). Echelon entered English in the late 18th century.
how is echelon used?
… if they fall out of favor with the top echelon of the party, their business empires could come crashing down.
The film features interviews with former members of the controversial organization who describe widespread abuse and intimidation from the upper echelons of the Church’s power structure.
Word of the day
vug
noun
Geology.
a small cavity in a rock or vein, often lined with crystals.
What is the origin of vug?
While you may have not heard of the word vug before, you have probably encountered a beautiful specimen of what this uncommon term names. In geology, vug refers to a small cavity in a rock or vein, often lined with crystals. Cavity is the key word, as vug comes from Cornish vooga “cave” (compare Cornish gogow “cave, cavity” and gwag “cave,” Welsh ogof “cave,” Latin fovea “pit”). Vug is also spelled vugg and vugh, and its adjective form is the delightful vuggy. Cornish was a Celtic language of southwest England that went extinct around 1800, but was notably revived in the 20th century. Borrowed from Cornish mining, vug entered English in the early 1800s.
how is vug used?
And this little hole—see, this little hole? There were once quartz crystals here too but they eroded away. This little hole is called a vug.
One such quartz vein contained minute particles of free gold, in a vug.
Word of the day
corrigible
adjective
subject to being revised, improved, or made more accurate: a corrigible theory.
What is the origin of corrigible?
It is curious that corrigible “subject to being revised, improved, or made more accurate” is much less common than its opposite, incorrigible. Corrigible ultimately comes from Medieval Latin corrigiblis, a derivative of Latin corrigere “to correct, amend, improve, rectify.” Corrigibilis does not occur in classical Latin, but incorrigibilis occurs in Seneca, the first-century a.d. Roman philosopher and man of letters. Corrigible entered English in the 15th century.
how is corrigible used?
First, policy decisions demand closure, conclusiveness, and certainty. By contrast, science is by its nature cautious, contingent, and corrigible.
He cautioned against a colonizing mindset that too readily collapses the distance between one’s self and another; empathy, in Stein’s definition, is “corrigible, always something to be learned.”