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.
to betray.
Bewray is a compound of the prefix be-, which is a form of the preposition by, and wray, an obsolete verb meaning “to accuse, expose.” Because of the influence of betray, the definition of bewray may have shifted from accusation to disloyalty. The prefix be- appears in befriend, bedazzle, and bejewel. Bewray was first recorded in English in the late 13th century. EXAMPLE OF BEWRAY USED IN A SENTENCE Several senators bewrayed Caesar, bringing him to an untimely end.
a subatomic particle with spherical symmetry and positive, negative, or neutral charge.
Pion is either a contraction of pi meson or formed from pi and the suffix -on, which indicates subatomic particles. The Greek letter pi (Ancient Greek pî or peî) is a borrowing from the Phoenician alphabet, and its name comes from a Semitic root meaning “mouth.” Pion was first recorded in English in the early 1950s. EXAMPLE OF PION USED IN A SENTENCE The pion blinked into and out of existence within mere billionths of a second.
either of two triggerfishes of Indo-Pacific coral reefs.
Humuhumunukunukuapuaa is from Hawaiian humuhumu-nukunuku-ā-pua‘a. The humuhumu element means “triggerfish,” while nukunuku translates as “short, blunt” and “small snout,” ā means “like,” and pua’a means “pig.” Both humuhumu and nukunuku are reduplicated forms, same as the English terms bye-bye, chitchat, and itsy-bitsy. Humuhumunukunukuapuaa was first recorded in English in the mid-1860s. EXAMPLE OF HUMUHUMUNUKUNUKUAPUAA USED IN A SENTENCE A school of brightly colored humuhumunukunukuapuaa drifted idly by the reef.
a device, as a skylight or reflector, for diverting light into a building.
Abat-jour is from French, in which abat is a form of abattre, “to beat down,” ultimately from Latin battuere, “to beat.” Battuere is the source of numerous fighting-related words in English, including battle and debate, and French jour, “day, daylight,” is the source of journal and journey. Abat-jour was first recorded in English in the 1820s. EXAMPLE OF ABAT-JOUR USED IN A SENTENCE Through an abat-jour in the ceiling, the sun cast a square of light onto the floor.
a large, flat cushion, used in Japan for sitting or kneeling on the floor.
Zabuton is borrowed from Japanese and formed from za, “seat,” and -buton, a form related to futon. Za as well as both the fu and ton elements in futon are all derived from Middle Chinese. In modern Mandarin, za has the cognate zuò, “seat,” fu is related to bù, “cloth,” and ton shares an origin with Mandarin tuán, “ball, circle, mass.” Zabuton was first recorded in English in the late 1880s. EXAMPLE OF ZABUTON USED IN A SENTENCE The guests each picked up a zabuton upon entering the room so they could sit around the low table in comfort.
