Word of the Day

Germinant, “beginning to grow or develop,” comes from the Latin verb germināre, “to bud, sprout,” which comes from the noun germen, “shoot, sprout.” Germen is also the source of germ, which originally referred to a bud or seed and later came to refer to microorganisms as well. Despite the similar spelling, germen is not related to the name of the country Germany, which is of uncertain ultimate origin. Germinant was first recorded in English around the year 1600. EXAMPLE OF GERMINANT USED IN A SENTENCE A small cluster of germinant dandelions sprouted underneath the downspout.

Eristic, “pertaining to controversy,” ultimately comes from Ancient Greek éris, “strife, discord,” which is also the origin of Eris, the Greek goddess of discord who instigated the Trojan War. In keeping with the tradition of naming astronomical bodies after mythological figures, the International Astronomical Union recognized Eris as the name of a dwarf planet first discovered on January 5, 2005. The noun éris is of unknown origin, and appropriate enough, there is ample controversy over the several proposals to link it to other Indo-European terms. Eristic was first recorded in English in the 1630s. EXAMPLE OF ERISTIC USED IN A SENTENCE By claiming that he disliked last year’s widely beloved Best Picture winner, the film critic brought an eristic perspective to the conversation.

Acmesthesia, “awareness of sharp points through touch without pain,” is based on Ancient Greek akmḗ, “point, highest point,” and aísthēsis, “sensation, perception.” Akmḗ comes from a family of words related to sharpness, whether literally or figuratively, both within and beyond Ancient Greek. For literal sharpness, compare English edge; Latin acus, “needle” (as in acupuncture and acute); and Ancient Greek oxýs, “sharp” (as in oxygen). For figurative sharpness, compare Latin ācer, “bitter” (as in acrid and acrimony); Latin acerbus, “sour, unripe” (as in exacerbate); Latin acidus, “sour” (as in acid); and Ancient Greek ákros, “topmost” (as in acrobat). Acmesthesia was first recorded in English circa 1910. EXAMPLE OF ACMESTHESIA USED IN A SENTENCE During the acupuncture session, she experienced acmesthesia and felt only minimal discomfort from the pinpricks.

Janus word, “a word that has opposite or nearly opposite meanings,” is the namesake of Janus, the literally two-faced Roman god of beginnings, doorways, and the movement of the sun. As we learned from the Word of the Day génoise, the name Janus is also the source of January (Latin Jānuārius) and related to jānus, “doorway, covered passage,” as in janitor. Janus words go by many alternative names, such as the Latin–Greek blend contranym (also contronym) or the purely Greek auto-antonym. Janus word was first recorded in English in the late 1930s, predating its alternatives. EXAMPLE OF JANUS WORD USED IN A SENTENCE Because the headline used the Janus word “sanction,” it was difficult to tell whether the government was approving or disapproving of the matter at hand.

Epigenetic, “pertaining to the process by which the expression of genetic information is modified on a molecular level,” is a compound of epi-, “on, over,” and genetic, which is formed from Ancient Greek génesis, “origin, source.” It may be easy to assume that gene is a shortened form of genetic, but the two are only distantly related. For more relatives of epigenetic, compare the Words of the Day gens du monde, iatrogenic, and kindred. Epigenetic was first recorded in English circa 1830, but its modern sense dates to the late 1950s. EXAMPLE OF EPIGENETIC USED IN A SENTENCE Forty years after their separation at birth, epigenetic reasons had made one twin start to go gray earlier than the other.