Word of the Day

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.

Asinine, “foolish, unintelligent, or silly,” comes from Latin asinīnus, which is based on asinus, “donkey.” The specific origin of asinus remains unknown and unrecorded, but there is ample evidence that it derives from a lost pre-Roman language based on its resemblance to other Eurasian words for “donkey” or, specifically, “female donkey,” such as Ancient Greek ónos, Arabicʾatān, and even Luwian tarkasna-. This could all point to an origin for asinus in what is now Iraq, perhaps Sumerian anše or anšu, “donkey.” Asinine was first recorded in English at the turn of the 17th century. Learn a few synonyms for asinine. EXAMPLE OF ASININE USED IN A SENTENCE The guest speaker's bizarre misuse of several complex words made him sound asinine.