Word of the Day

Steppe, “an extensive, treeless plain,” is a borrowing by way of either French or German from Russian step’, of unknown origin. In the English transliteration of Russian step’, the apostrophe (’) represents the Cyrillic letter (ь), known to the Russians as myágkiĭ znak, “soft sign.” This indicates that the consonant immediately before it is palatalized, or pronounced with the tongue against the hard palate, adding a slight “yuh” to the consonant. Though English doesn’t use palatalization quite as Russian does, this phenomenon is still somewhat visible in words such as assume, which some pronounce as “uh-soom” and others as “uh-syoom.” Steppe was first recorded in English circa 1670. EXAMPLE OF STEPPE USED IN A SENTENCE The animals ventured south across the steppe to find a warmer home for the coming winter.

Horchata, “a chilled, sweetened, nut or rice milk-based drink,” is a loanword from Spanish that ultimately comes from Latin hordeum, “barley,” the key ingredient in a similar beverage. Linguists assume that, unlike most Spanish words of Latin origin, horchata did not come directly from Latin and instead followed a path through another Mediterranean language such as Italian, Mozarabic, or Vulgar Latin. A similar route produced French orgeat, which was once made of barley but now contains almonds instead. Horchata was first recorded in English in the 1820s. EXAMPLE OF HORCHATA USED IN A SENTENCE The family made multiple pitchers of horchata to be shared at their summer picnic.

Germinant, “beginning to grow or develop,” comes from the Latin verb germināre, “to bud, sprout,” which comes from the noun germen, “shoot, sprout.” Germen is also the source of germ, which originally referred to a bud or seed and later came to refer to microorganisms as well. Despite the similar spelling, germen is not related to the name of the country Germany, which is of uncertain ultimate origin. Germinant was first recorded in English around the year 1600. EXAMPLE OF GERMINANT USED IN A SENTENCE A small cluster of germinant dandelions sprouted underneath the downspout.

Eristic, “pertaining to controversy,” ultimately comes from Ancient Greek éris, “strife, discord,” which is also the origin of Eris, the Greek goddess of discord who instigated the Trojan War. In keeping with the tradition of naming astronomical bodies after mythological figures, the International Astronomical Union recognized Eris as the name of a dwarf planet first discovered on January 5, 2005. The noun éris is of unknown origin, and appropriate enough, there is ample controversy over the several proposals to link it to other Indo-European terms. Eristic was first recorded in English in the 1630s. EXAMPLE OF ERISTIC USED IN A SENTENCE By claiming that he disliked last year’s widely beloved Best Picture winner, the film critic brought an eristic perspective to the conversation.

Acmesthesia, “awareness of sharp points through touch without pain,” is based on Ancient Greek akmḗ, “point, highest point,” and aísthēsis, “sensation, perception.” Akmḗ comes from a family of words related to sharpness, whether literally or figuratively, both within and beyond Ancient Greek. For literal sharpness, compare English edge; Latin acus, “needle” (as in acupuncture and acute); and Ancient Greek oxýs, “sharp” (as in oxygen). For figurative sharpness, compare Latin ācer, “bitter” (as in acrid and acrimony); Latin acerbus, “sour, unripe” (as in exacerbate); Latin acidus, “sour” (as in acid); and Ancient Greek ákros, “topmost” (as in acrobat). Acmesthesia was first recorded in English circa 1910. EXAMPLE OF ACMESTHESIA USED IN A SENTENCE During the acupuncture session, she experienced acmesthesia and felt only minimal discomfort from the pinpricks.