Word of the Day
delegate
noun
a person designated to act for or represent another or others; deputy; representative, as in a political convention.
More about 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.
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!
More about 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.
habitué
noun
a frequent or habitual visitor to a place: a habitué of art galleries.
More about 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.