Word of the Day

Carapace “a bony shell covering the back of an animal” is a borrowing by way of French from Spanish carapacho, which is of uncertain origin. One theory is that carapacho is a corruption related to English caparison (from Old Spanish caparazón) “a decorative covering for a horse,” which may come from Medieval Latin cappa “hooded cloak, cape” or classical Latin caput “head.” Alternative proposals that carapacho shares an origin with English calabash or calabaza, a type of gourd; Spanish galápago “tortoise,” the namesake of the Galapagos Islands; or Ancient Greek kárabos “kind of beetle,” which is related to scarab, are based only on passing phonetic similarity. Carapace was first recorded in English in the 1830s.

Tisane “aromatic or herb-flavored tea” is a loanword from French, in which it indicates herbal tea, and comes from Latin ptisana, also tisana, from earlier Ancient Greek ptisanē “crushed barley,” derived from the verb ptissein “to crush.” Ptissein is related to several words of Latin origin, including pīnsere “to pound, crush,” which is the source of pistil “the seed-bearing organ of a flower” as well as pestle “a tool for grinding substances in a mortar.” Despite the similar sound and meaning, tisane is not related to tea; as we learned from the recent Word of the Day matcha, tea ultimately comes from Middle Chinese. Tisane was first recorded in English in the early 1930s.

Hootenanny “an informal session where folk singers and instrumentalists perform” may be a term popularized by musicians such as Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, but its ultimate origin is unknown. The prevailing theory is that hootenanny stems from Appalachian dialectal English and had an earlier meaning similar to that of thingamajig—a fanciful word used when the speaker does not know the true name of the object or concept in question. As we learned from the recent Word of the Day whigmaleerie, English has developed innumerable placeholder words based on nonsensical elements, from the simpler blivit, doodad, and gadget to the more complex doohickey, thingamabob, and whatchamacallit. Hootenanny was first recorded in English in the early 1910s.

Tenebrific “producing darkness” is based on Latin tenebrae “darkness,” plus the adjective-forming suffix -fic. Tenebrae, which is also the source of English tenebrous “dark, gloomy, obscure,” appears to come from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning “dark” that is also the source of German Dämmerung “twilight,” Sanskrit támas “darkness,” and Welsh tywyll “dark.” Another possible relative of tenebrae is Thames, a river that runs through southeastern England, which may come from a Celtic source meaning “dark.” Related to tenebrae is the Latin adverb temere “blindly, heedlessly,” perhaps originally meaning “in the dark,” which is the source of English temerarious “reckless, rash.” Tenebrific was first recorded in the 1640s.

Agglutinative “pertaining to a language characterized by combining morphemes without fusion” is formed from the verb agglutinate “to unite, as with glue,” plus the adjective-forming suffix -ive. Agglutinate ultimately comes from the Latin noun glūten (stem glūtin-) “glue,” which also lends its name to the sticky protein that is found in wheat and other grains that can negatively affect those with an allergy or celiac disease. Partially or totally agglutinative languages are found worldwide, from Japanese, Malay, and Navajo (Diné Bizaad) to Basque (Euskera), Finnish, and Swahili. Agglutinative was first recorded in English circa 1630.