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Word of the dayPrevious Week Next WeekSunday, May 06, 2018
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What is the origin of sabulous?
The English adjective sabulous is a clear-cut borrowing from Latin sabulōsus ”gravelly, sandy,” a derivative of sabulum “coarse sand, gravel.” Sabulum comes from an assumed Italic psaflom. (Italic is the branch of the Indo-European language family that includes Latin, Oscan, Umbrian, and the modern Romance languages.) Psaflom comes from the same Proto-Indo-European root bhes- “to rub” as Greek psêphos “pebble” and Germanic sandam (Old English and English sand, German Sand). Sabulous entered English in the 17h century.Previous DayHow is sabulous used?
But clearly the beach is also a stage, a studio, indeed an arena, sabulous or otherwise, at the heart of the culture. Peter D. Osborne, Travelling light, 2000
The plants rose from the stones like a conjurer's trick, working roots down into hidden pockets of sabulous soil ... Olivia Laing, To the River, 2011
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Word of the daySaturday, May 05, 2018
cinquefoil
noun [singk-foil]any of several plants belonging to the genus Potentilla, of the rose family, having yellow, red, or white five-petaled flowers, as P. reptans (creeping cinquefoil) of the Old World, or P. argentea (silvery cinquefoil) of North America.Look it upWhat is the origin of cinquefoil?
The English noun cinquefoil comes from Middle French cincfoille “five leaves.” Cincfoille corresponds to Latin quīnque folia, a translation of Greek pentáphyllon, literally “five leaves,” and the name of the creeping cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans) or the silvery cinquefoil (P. argentea). Cinquefoil entered English in the 15th century.Previous DayHow is cinquefoil used?
Cinquefoil, with small yellow blossom, and ranunculus, with glossy yellow cup, edged the sunny roads ... Janet Lewis, The Trial of Sören Qvist, 1947
This was my curious labor all summer,--to make this portion of the earth's surface, which had yielded only cinquefoil, blackberries, johnswort, and the like, before, sweet wild fruits and pleasant flowers, produce instead this pulse. Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854
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Word of the dayFriday, May 04, 2018
What is the origin of sith?
In English sith is an archaic or dialect word whose functions as an adverb, preposition, and conjunction have been taken over by since. The Old English siththa is a variant of siththan (originally sīth thām “after that, subsequent to”), an adverbial and prepositional phrase formed from the comparative adverb sīth “subsequently, later” (akin to German seit “since”) and thām, the dative of the demonstrative pronoun, the phrase meaning “subsequent to that, after that.”Previous DayHow is sith used?
... for ever sith the lord Clisson turned French, he never loved him. Jean Froissart (1333?– c.1400), The Chronicles of Froissart, translated by John Bourchier, 1523–25
"Of course you see now, Sir Thomas, how ill a match Master John Feversham should have been for Blanche." "Wherefore?" was the short answer. "Sith he is no longer the heir." Emily Sarah Holt, Clare Avery, 1876
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Word of the dayThursday, May 03, 2018
What is the origin of forgetive?
At first glance forgetive looks like a derivative of forget, to be pronounced with a hard g, accented on the second syllable, and meaning something like “forgetful.” It is, however, a coinage by Shakespeare, and appears in Henry IV, Part 2 (1596-99). Forgetive, obscure in its etymology and meaning, is usually interpreted as a derivation of the verb forge “to beat into shape, form by hammering” and meaning “creative, inventive.”Previous DayHow is forgetive used?
O quick and forgetive power! Dante Alighieri (written c. 1308–21), The Vision: or, Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, of Dante Alighieri, translated by Henry Francis Cary, 1814
A good sherris-sack hath a two-fold operation in it. It ... makes it apprehensive quick, forgetive, full of nimble fiery and delectable shapes ... William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2, 1623
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Word of the dayWednesday, May 02, 2018
What is the origin of pococurante?
The English noun and adjective pococurante is a straightforward borrowing from Italian, even retaining its Italian pronunciation. Pococurante in both languages means “caring little, indifferent.” The first element poco in Italian is an indefinite adjective and adverb meaning “little, a little,” descended from the Latin adjective paucus “few” (the Latin adjective is related to Gothic fawai, Old English fēawe, and Middle English fewe, all plural adjectives of indefinite quantity meaning “few”). The Italian adjective curante is the present participle of the verb curare (the Latin forms are cūrant- and cūrāre) "to watch over, look after, cure.” The Latin verb is a derivative of the noun cūra “worry, concern, object of care,” of unknown etymology. Pococurante entered English in the 18th century.Previous DayHow is pococurante used?
"I believe you are misinformed, sir," said Jekyl dryly, and then resumed as deftly as he could, his proper character of a pococurante. Sir Walter Scott, St. Ronan's Well, 1823
Calling a careless person a "pococurante" or other fancy name will not, by the precision of the term, suddenly make the careless careful. Jeff VanderMeer, The Third Bear, 2010
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Word of the dayTuesday, May 01, 2018
What is the origin of tussie-mussie?
There is no clear etymology for tussie-mussie “bunch of flowers, nosegay.” The Middle English form, tusemose, and the 17th-century form tussimussie, suggest an assumed Middle English tus or tusse “cluster of flowers.” Tussie-mussie entered English in the mid-15th century.Previous DayHow is tussie-mussie used?
The world would be a kinder and gentler place if we all exchanged tussie-mussies instead of badmouthing people behind their backs or unfriending them on Facebook. Claire Cook, The Wildwater Walking Club: Back on Track, 2017
When those were finished, they turned to the tussie-mussies--handheld herbal nosegays in which each plant has a special significance--for the women guests. Susan Wittig Albert, Lavender Lies, 1999
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Word of the dayMonday, April 30, 2018
Machiavellian
adjective [mak-ee-uh-vel-ee-uhn]characterized by subtle or unscrupulous cunning, deception, expediency, or dishonesty: He resorted to Machiavellian tactics in order to get ahead.Look it upWhat is the origin of Machiavellian?
Machiavellian is an adjective derived from Machiavelli, the family name of the Florentine diplomat, historian, and political philosopher Niccolò Bernardo Machiavelli (1469–1527). He wrote his most famous work The Prince (Il Principe) in 1513 while in exile from Florence. Machiavellian entered English in the 16th century.Previous DayHow is Machiavellian used?
I need to tell you about my shamefully Machiavellian motive for sending her packing and the subdolous way in which her death facilitated my crowning achievement. Clanash Farjeon, A Handbook for Attendants on the Insane: The Autobiography of 'Jack the Ripper' as Revealed to Clanash Farjeon, 2003
The doctor's mind pursued its own schemes with Machiavellian subtlety. Joseph Conrad, Nostromo, 1904
