Word of the Day

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.

Dithyrambic, “of or relating to an impassioned oration,” describes a dithyramb, which refers to a wild Greek choral song or, more broadly, to an enthusiastic speech. Dithyramb comes from Ancient Greek dīthýrambos, which belongs to a small family of words related to song or rhythm, including íambos, “iamb.” Alas, these words are likely of mysterious pre-Greek origin, coming from a lost language spoken in the eastern Mediterranean. For more examples of pre-Greek words, check out the Words of the Day obelize and pharyngeal. Dithyrambic was first recorded in English at the turn of the 17th century. EXAMPLE OF DITHYRAMBIC USED IN A SENTENCE The teacher was known for dithyrambic declarations, praising all her students for their exceptional performance.

The roots of welkin, “the sky,” run rather deep in English history. Welkin’s earliest recorded form is Old English wolcen, “cloud, sky,” the plural of which is wolcnu. Wolcen belongs to a class of nouns in Old English that added a final -u when they became plural. Other such words include æcern, “acorn”; cnēow, “knee”; and scip, “ship,” all of which simply add -s today in the plural. Outside the British Isles, welkin appears to have relatives in other West Germanic languages, such as Dutch wolk and German Wolke, both “cloud,” but no clear connections beyond that branch. Welkin was first recorded in English before 900 CE. EXAMPLE OF WELKIN USED IN A SENTENCE As they drove through the night, the North Star arose in the darkened welkin, guiding them home.