Word of the Day
ignimbrite
noun
a fine-grained volcanic rock consisting mainly of welded shards of feldspar and quartz.
More about ignimbrite
Ignimbrite is a compound of two Latin words: ignis, meaning “fire,” and imber, meaning “rain, shower.” Ignis is the source of igneous, ignition, and the Word of the Day ignescent, all of which involve fire and heat. Geologist Patrick Marshall coined ignimbrite in 1932.
EXAMPLE OF IGNIMBRITE USED IN A SENTENCE
The geologists chiseled out a block of ignimbrite to study an ancient volcanic eruption.
czardas
noun
a Hungarian national dance in two movements, one slow and the other fast.
More about czardas
Czardas is a slight alteration of Hungarian csárdás, from csárda “wayside tavern, inn.” Csárdás comes from Persian chārtāk, “four-cornered room,” in which the chār- element, meaning “four,” is a distant relative of English four, Latin quattuor, and Ancient Greek tésseres, as in the Word of the Day tessellate. Czardas was first recorded in English in the late 1850s.
EXAMPLE OF CZARDAS USED IN A SENTENCE
Dresses swirled and feathered hats spun as the czardas picked up in tempo.
More about nincompoop
Nincompoop has a history as unusual as its meaning. One hypothesis includes connections to the Latin phrase non compos (mentis), meaning “not of sound (mind).” Alternatively, nincompoop could simply be an elaboration based on ninny, which may come from innocent. Nincompoop was first recorded in English in the 1670s.
EXAMPLE OF NINCOMPOOP USED IN A SENTENCE
The emperor certainly came across as a nincompoop as he paraded around in his “new clothes.”