Word of the Day
Learn a new word every day! The Dictionary.com team of language experts carefully selects each Word of the Day to add some panache to your vocabulary.
noun
money; cash.
Explanation
- An Americanism dating back to 1855–60.
- Of uncertain origin.
- Sometimes spelled spondulix.
- The young entrepreneur was determined to turn her innovative idea into spondulicks for her growing business.
- In the old Western movies, bandits would often demand a hefty sum of spondulicks in exchange for hostages.
noun
a caper or leap.
Explanation
- First recorded around 1570–80.
- Comes from Middle French via the Italian word capriola, which is the noun derivative of capriolare, "to leap, caper."
- Capriolare derived from the Latin word capreolus, equivalent to capre(a), "roe deer."
- Watching the young deer execute a playful capriole in the meadow brought a smile to my face.
- The acrobat soared through the air with a graceful capriole before landing flawlessly on the platform.
noun
any mixture or miscellany.
Explanation
- 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).
- 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.
adjective
secret or clandestine.
Explanation
- 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.
- 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.
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.
Explanation
- First recorded around 1835–45.
- Comes from German, equivalent to um-, "about, around" and Laut, "sound."
- 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.
