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.
a rowdy, usually drunken party.
The noun rort is an example of a back formation. It was formed from the adjective rorty, “boisterous, rowdy” or earlier “fine, splendid." Rorty itself may be connected to the verb roar. Rort was first recorded in English in the mid-1920s. Learn more about common back formations in English. EXAMPLE OF RORT USED IN A SENTENCE The Friday night gathering turned into a wild rort, with wine and revelry lasting until dawn.
with or for the right hand; right-handedly.
Northpaw is often said to come from baseball, with a westward-facing pitcher’s right arm to the north, but this claim remains unproven. Many languages associate handedness with cardinal directions; compare Biblical Hebrew yāmîn, meaning both “right hand” and “south." Northpaw was first recorded in English in the late 1890s. Northpaw is one of the recent additions to Dictionary.com. EXAMPLE OF NORTHPAW USED IN A SENTENCE To switch things up after hours of practicing, the left-handed pitcher threw northpaw instead.
a collection of selected literary passages, often by one author and especially from a foreign language.
Chrestomathy is equivalent to Ancient Greek chrêsthai, “to use, need,” and manthánein, “to learn.” Chrêsthai is a distant relative of greedy and yearn, and as its stem math- would suggest, manthánein is indeed the source of mathematics and polymath. Chrestomathy was first recorded in English circa 1830. EXAMPLE OF CHRESTOMATHY USED IN A SENTENCE The chrestomathy, which contained several autobiographical excerpts translated from Spanish, provided the students with a glimpse into the author’s cultural heritage.
a hut with a thatched roof and walls consisting of thin stakes driven into the ground.
Jacal is borrowed from Mexican Spanish and adapted from Nahuatl xahcalli, with xah- meaning “adobe” and calli meaning “house,” which also appears in the Word of the Day teocalli. Of no relation to the animal name jackal, which is of Persian origin, jacal was first recorded in English in the 1830s. EXAMPLE OF JACAL USED IN A SENTENCE The jacal rose gently out of the hill, showing how locally sourced materials such as wood and clay could create homes in harmony with the landscape.
capable of managing one's affairs or assuming legal responsibility.
Sui juris is from Latin suī jūris, meaning “of one’s own right.” Suī is the possessive adjective meaning “her,” “his,” “its,” “one’s,” or “their.” Jūris is the rhotacized form of jūs, “law, right,” and it is the source of conjure, jury, and justice. Sui juris was first recorded in English circa 1610. EXAMPLE OF SUI JURIS USED IN A SENTENCE Unless demonstrated otherwise, every adult is regarded as sui juris in the eyes of the law.
