Word of the Day
ubiety
noun
the property of having a definite location at any given time; state of existing and being localized in space.
More about ubiety
Ubiety (also spelled ubeity and formerly ubity) is an altogether strange word whose literal meaning is “whereness”; its current meaning is “the property of having a definite location at a given time; the state of existing and being localized in space,” in other words, “location.” Ubiety comes from New Latin ubietās (inflectional stem ubietāt-) “location, position,” formed from Latin ubi, the relative and interrogative adverb meaning “where, where?” and the noun suffix –etās, a variant of –itās used after i. Alexander Ross, a prolific 17th-century Scottish writer and chaplain to King Charles I, was the first writer in English to use ubiety. Writing on the qualities of souls, Ross says, “Neither are the souls nowhere, nor are they everywhere; not nowhere, for ubiety is so necessary to created entities.” Ubiety entered English in the first half of the 17th century.
how is ubiety used?
Strictly speaking, an unembodied spirit, or pure mind, has no relation to place. Whereness—ubiety, is a pure relation, the relation of body to body. Cancel body, annihilate matter and there is no here or there.
Notwithstanding her uncertain tenure of ubiety, and, possibly, even of house and home for the next moment, she patiently yielded to her lot. Here to-day, elsewhere to-morrow …
oligopoly
noun
the market condition that exists when there are few sellers, as a result of which they can greatly influence price and other market factors.
More about oligopoly
Oligopoly, “a condition of the market in which there are few sellers, which grants sellers great influence over prices,” is modeled on the familiar noun monopoly (via Latin monopōlium “sole right to sell a commodity,” from Greek monopṓlion “right of monopoly, exclusive sale”). Oligopoly is a compound of the combining form oligo– “few, a few, little” (most often seen in oligarchy “government by only a few”) from Greek olígos, of uncertain etymology. The element –poly, common to monopoly and oligopoly, is a derivative of the Greek verb pōleîn “to offer for sale, sell.” Oligopoly entered English towards the end of the 19th century.
how is oligopoly used?
U.S. housing debates rarely involve the “O” word. But oligopolies, a cousin of monopolies in which a few powerful players corner the market, are emerging everywhere.
If she’s stressed and wants to relax outside the shadow of an oligopoly, she’ll have to stay away from ebooks, music, and beer; two companies control more than half of all sales in each of these markets. There is no escape—literally.
nonesuch
noun
a person or thing without equal; paragon.
More about nonesuch
The noun nonesuch (also spelled nonsuch), “someone or something without equal,” is a compound of the pronoun none and the adjective such. The word’s earliest sense was as an impersonal term or neuter word meaning “something unparalleled,” a sense it still has. By the mid-17th century, nonesuch came to mean “a person without equal, beyond compare.” Nonesuch entered English in the second half of the 16th century. Middle English had the compound word non-swich, an adjective meaning “no such,” and a pronoun meaning “no such person, no such thing,” but not “someone or something without parallel.” Nonesuch entered English in the late 16th century.
how is nonesuch used?
She is a nonesuch, of course. No woman in England, or out of England like her.
I had a good look at the Indianapolis Union Station—a celebrated architectural nonesuch—and then took a deep breath, crossed myself several times, and approached the man at the ticket window.