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.
of or relating to the effects of the body on the mind.
Somatopsychic consists of the combining form somato-, which comes from Ancient Greek sôma, “body,” and the adjective psychic, which ultimately comes from Ancient Greek psȳ́chein, “to breathe, blow” and, by extension, “to live.” The same root, psȳ́chein, is also the source of Word of the Day psychotronic. Somatopsychic was first recorded in English at the turn of the 20th century. EXAMPLE OF SOMATOPSYCHIC USED IN A SENTENCE The chronic pain in the man’s leg had a somatopsychic effect, causing him constant anxiety and stress even when he was at rest.
having the same ancestry or descent; related by blood.
Consanguineous comes from Latin con-, “together, with,” and sanguis, “blood.” Some linguists have connected sanguis to the rather unsavory Latin noun saniēs, “ichor, discharged fluid.” Sanguis is also the source of the Words of the Day sanguine and sanguivorous. William Shakespeare introduced consanguineous into English in his play Twelfth Night, written in 1602. EXAMPLE OF CONSANGUINEOUS USED IN A SENTENCE Though they called themselves blood brothers, the friends were in fact distant, albeit consanguineous, cousins.
to speak pompously.
Bloviate is strongly associated with President Warren G. Harding, who popularized the term but did not invent it. Bloviate is an alteration of blow in the sense “to boast,” as in blow-hard, perhaps on the pattern of abbreviate, deviate, or obviate. Bloviate was first recorded in English in the early 1850s. EXAMPLE OF BLOVIATE USED IN A SENTENCE When the poll revealed a high demand for shows relevant to modern audiences, the TV executive bloviated, insisting that the old ways were the best.
a compound noun or adjective in which the first word describes the person or object denoted by the second.
Bahuvrihi is from a Sanskrit word that literally means “having much rice.” In this rather meta way, bahuvrihi is itself a bahuvrihi. Sanskrit vrīhi and English rice may not look much alike, but they are indeed distantly related. Bahuvrihi was first recorded in English in the 1840s. EXAMPLE OF BAHUVRIHI USED IN A SENTENCE It was challenging to decide which bahuvrihi best described the hotheaded, dimwitted loudmouth.
a being or object having many legs.
Poly- comes from Ancient Greek polýs, meaning “many,” while -ped is from Latin pēs, “foot,” meaning that polyped is a blend of roots from two different languages. An all-Greek version would be “polypod,” while an all-Latin version would be “multipod” instead. Polyped was first recorded in English around 1820. EXAMPLE OF POLYPED USED IN A SENTENCE Centipedes, millipedes, and several other kinds of polypeds scurried across the forest floor.
