Word of the Day

If you’re wondering whether ewer, “a pitcher with a wide spout,” and the similarly watery sewer are related, you’ve guessed correctly. The ultimate origin of ewer is Latin aquārius, “vessel for water,” which evolved into Old French euwier or evier after a series of sound changes (compare modern French évier, “stone channel serving as a sewer”). Meanwhile, sewer comes from Vulgar Latin exaquāria, “drain for carrying water off.” The Latin aquāri- element is based on aqua, “water,” as are the Words of the Day gouache and terraqueous. Ewer was first recorded in English around the turn of the 14th century. EXAMPLE OF EWER USED IN A SENTENCE In the constellation Aquarius, a man is depicted as pouring an endless stream of water from a ewer.

Paresthesia, “an abnormal sensation,” comes from New Latin, a revived variety of Latin used in scientific literature. In paresthesia, the -esthesia element means “capacity for sensation or feeling” and ultimately comes from Ancient Greek aísthēsis, “sensation, perception.” Ancient Greek ai becomes ae in Latin and either ae or e in English. This is why words such as esthetics and anesthesia are also spelled aesthetics and anaesthesia. Paresthesia was first recorded in English in the late 1850s. EXAMPLE OF PARESTHESIA USED IN A SENTENCE After sitting for so long, she winced from the paresthesia in her legs when she stood up.

Sitzmark “a sunken area in the snow made by a falling skier” is a loanword from German, in which it is a compound of sitzen “to sit” and Mark “mark, visible impression.” Sitzen is a close relative of English sit, and because t in English tends to correspond to d in other Indo-European languages, we can see the connection to the Words of the Day sedentary (from Latin sedēre, “to sit”) and sídh (from Old Irish síd, “fairy mound”). English mark and German Mark are indeed related and share an origin with demarcation, march, margin, margrave, marquee, and remark—but not with the month March or the name Mark. Sitzmark was first recorded in English in the late 1930s. EXAMPLE OF SITZMARK USED IN A SENTENCE Even the bunny slopes are riddled with sitzmarks left by aspiring skiers in need of a bit more practice.

Sklent, “to deviate from a straight course,” is a Scots variant of Middle English slenten “to slant.” As we learned from the Word of the Day whigmaleerie, Scots is a sister language of English with its own grammar and vocabulary, unlike Scottish English, which is a dialect of English or Scottish Gaelic, which is a Celtic language. Similar to that of the Word of the Day tawpie, sklent’s origin lies in Scandinavia, and relatives of sklent include Swedish slinta “to slide, slip.” The apparent addition of the k in sklent is an example of an excrescent sound, as we learned from the Word of the Day enumerate. Sklent was first recorded in English circa 1510. EXAMPLE OF SKLENT USED IN A SENTENCE The driver swerved off the asphalt rather than answer an uncomfortable question, sklenting from both the road and the truth in one fell swoop.

Nainsook, “a cotton fabric used in delicate clothing,” comes from Hindi nainsukh, literally meaning “eye’s pleasure.” The nain- element means “eye” and comes from a Sanskrit verb meaning “to lead.” Meanwhile, the -sukh component means “pleasure” and comes from Sanskrit sukha-, “pleasant” or “running easily,” the latter in reference to carts and chariots. To delve a bit deeper, sukha- may be a compound of su-, “good,” and kha-, “axle-hole,” and su- is a distant relative of Ancient Greek eús, “good,” as in euphemism, euphony, and Word of the Day euxinia. Nainsook was first recorded in English in the 1780s. EXAMPLE OF NAINSOOK USED IN A SENTENCE The tailor selected the nainsook with the vivid embroidery for the dressing gown.