Word of the Day
nearlywed
noun
a person whose wedding day is very soon to occur.
More about nearlywed
Nearlywed is a compound of nearly and wed, on the pattern of newlywed. Near comes from Old English nēar, meaning “closer.” Wed comes from Old English weddian, “to pledge.” Nearlywed was first recorded in English in the late 1950s. Nearlywed is one of the recent additions to Dictionary.com.
EXAMPLE OF NEARLYWED USED IN A SENTENCE
The nearlyweds registered for many gifts, only to return them months later as newlyweds.
More about mauka
Mauka is from Hawaiian, comprising ma-, indicating direction, and uka, meaning “inland, upland.” The opposite direction of mauka is Word of the Day makai. Both mauka and makai show the influence of natural geographic features on the Hawaiian language. Mauka was first recorded in English in the mid-1870s.
EXAMPLE OF MAUKA USED IN A SENTENCE
The ancient trail ran mauka, gradually climbing the many slopes of the Mauna Loa volcano.
fioritura
noun
the ornamentation of a melody, often improvised by the performer, as in Italian opera during the 18th century.
More about fioritura
Fioritura is a borrowing from Italian that literally means “floweriness” and ultimately comes from Latin flōs, flōr-, “flower.” L in Latin often becomes Italian i, which we see in the Italian borrowings piano (from Latin plānus, “plain”) and piazza (from Latin plātea, “courtyard”). Fioritura was first recorded in English around 1840.
EXAMPLE OF FIORITURA USED IN A SENTENCE
In an attempt to wow the audience, the opera singer added several fioriture to each verse she sang.