Word of the Day
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Why Dictionary.com chose salmagundi
More about salmagundi
- First recorded around 1665–75.
- Comes from the Middle French word salmingondin.
- Salmingondin is a compound based on salemine, “salted food” (from which we get salami) and condir, “to season” (from which we get condiment).
EXAMPLES OF SALMAGUNDI
- Our family reunion turned into a lively salmagundi of stories, jokes, and memories shared around the bonfire.
- Her jewelry box contained a colorful salmagundi of beads, gemstones, and trinkets.
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Why Dictionary.com chose hugger-mugger
More about hugger-mugger
- First recorded in 1520–30.
- An earlier form was hucker-mucker, a rhyming compound based on mucker.
- Mucker comes from the Middle English word mokeren, “to hoard.”
- Hugger-mugger can be a noun and verb, too.
EXAMPLES OF HUGGER-MUGGER
- The spy communicated with her handler in a hugger-mugger manner to avoid detection.
- The meeting was very hugger-mugger, with everyone whispering and looking over their shoulders.
umlaut
noun
a mark placed over a vowel to indicate a vowel sound different from that of the letter without it, especially as so used in German.
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Why Dictionary.com chose umlaut
More about umlaut
- First recorded around 1835–45.
- Comes from German, equivalent to um-, “about, around” and Laut, “sound.”
EXAMPLES OF UMLAUT
- When learning to spell in German, it’s important to pay attention to the umlauts placed on vowels.
- The word über in German contains an umlaut over the letter u.
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