Word of the Day
plenipotent
adjective
invested with or possessing full power.
More about plenipotent
The adjective plenipotent,“invested with or possessing full power,” comes from Late Latin plēnipotent– (stem of plēnipotēns), which is composed of plēni-, the combining form of plēnus “full” and potent-, the combining form of potēns, the present participle of posse “to be able, have power.” Plenipotent is not as common in English as its close relative, the adjective and noun plenipotentiary (as a noun, plenipotentiary usually refers to a diplomat with full power to conduct business or negotiations.) Plenipotent entered English in 1639; plenipotentiary in 1646.
how is plenipotent used?
In his youth he drudged 12 hours a day, at a salary of 4 shillings a week ($1.00). Last week he welcomed to the sumptuous mayoral board a company of diners plenipotent and distinguished.
Nature, impassive and plenipotent, waits to reward or punish us.
hapax legomenon
noun
a word or phrase that appears only once in a manuscript, document, or particular area of literature.
More about hapax legomenon
The phrase hapax legomenon, “a word or phrase appearing only once in literature,” comes from Greek hápax legomenon, composed of the adverb hápax “once, one time” and the neuter singular present passive participle legómenon “(being) said,” from the verb légein “to say.” (Hapax is also used by itself in English as a noun; the plural of hapax legomenon is hapax legomena.) One famous hapax—as far as these things go—is the adjective epioúsion in the phrase árton… epioúsion in the clause “(Give us this day our) daily bread,” in the Lord’s Prayer in the gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke. The Greek noun ártos means “wheat bread, bread (in general)” and presents no problem. Epioúsion may mean “(enough) for today, today’s, next day’s, necessary, sufficient.” Epioúsion is variously translated in Latin: one of them, quotīdiānum “daily,” is an inadequate, even wrong translation of epioúsion, but it was used in Tyndale’s translation of the Bible (1534) and the King James Bible (1611), and it is used today in most modern English translations. Hapax legomenon entered English in the late 17th century.
how is hapax legomenon used?
I have no such grand designs in this essay, nor could I possibly discuss all of the hapax legomena in just The Lord of the Rings, not even in the most cursory fashion because there are more than five thousand of them.
The adjective φολκός is an absolute hapax legomenon in the Greek language: it occurs only here and in some ancient scholia, lexica, and commentaries on this very passage.
moonshot
noun
a very challenging and innovative project or undertaking.
More about moonshot
Moonshot, “a launching of a spacecraft to the moon,” a transparent compound of moon and shot, entered English in 1949, near the beginning of large-scale rocket development in the U.S. Moonshot in its extended sense “a challenging and innovative project” first appears in 1967.
how is moonshot used?
Jennifer Granholm, the energy secretary, called the U.S. plan to tackle climate change “our generation’s moonshot.”
Moonshots don’t begin with brainstorming clever answers. They start with the hard work of finding the right questions.