Word of the Day
shillelagh
noun
a club or stick, traditionally of blackthorn or oak.
More about shillelagh
Shillelagh, “club, stick” has two possible origins. Though it may not seem like one at first, shillelagh may be an example of a toponym, or a word derived from a placename. While English has no shortage of food-related toponyms, this origin of shillelagh is not found in the kitchen. Instead, shillelagh comes from the Irish town name Síol Éalaigh, which is located in County Wicklow, Ireland, next to a forest that once provided wood for the clubs. In the name Síol Éalaigh, síol means “seed, descendant,” while Éalaigh is a form of the given name Éalach. Alternatively, shillelagh may derive instead from Irish Gaelic sail, “willow” (compare English sallow), and iall, “strap, thong.” Shillelagh was first recorded in English in the 1670s.
EXAMPLE OF SHILLELAGH USED IN A SENTENCE
Despite its simple appearance as a curved or knobbly cane, the shillelagh is a centerpiece of an Irish variety of martial arts.
arrivederci
interjection
until we see each other again; goodbye for the present.
More about arrivederci
Arrivederci, “goodbye for the present,” is a loanword from Italian composed of several elements. The first of these is a, “to,” from Latin ad. The second element is ri-, “back, again,” from Latin re-, which is found in the recent Words of the Day refractory, revenant, and revitalize. Next is vedere, “to see,” which is also an element in the Word of the Day belvedere. Arrivederci is almost an exact cognate of French au revoir; a key difference is the final additional element in Italian, ci, “us, each other.” In this way, while French au revoir literally means “to the seeing again,” Italian arrivederci literally means “to seeing each other again.” Arrivederci was first recorded in English circa 1670.
EXAMPLE OF ARRIVEDERCI USED IN A SENTENCE
In the closing minutes of the last class of the semester, the professor bade her students a warm “arrivederci” and began thinking about her vacation.
desegregation
noun
the elimination of laws, customs, or practices under which people from different religions, ancestries, ethnic groups, etc., are restricted to specific or separate public facilities, neighborhoods, schools, organizations, or the like.
More about desegregation
Desegregation, “the elimination of laws under which people are separated,” is a compound of de-, “not, un-,” and segregation, which comes from Latin sēgregāre, “to part from the flock.” Sēgregāre is formed from sē-, “without, apart,” and grex (stem greg-), “flock,” the latter of which is also the source of congregate (literally meaning “to flock together”), gregarious (“belonging to a flock”), and egregious (“out of the flock”). Though segregation is often contrasted with its rhyming opposite integration, the two are unrelated. Instead, integration ultimately comes from Latin integer, “untouched, undivided, whole.” Desegregation was first recorded in English in the early 1950s. (Read more about an important example of desegregation on this day in 1960.)
EXAMPLE OF DESEGREGATION USED IN A SENTENCE
A flurry of court cases and legislation, such as Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, was critical to desegregation in the United States.