Word of the Day

Smaragdine, “emerald-green in color,” comes via Latin smaragdus from Ancient Greek smáragdos, “emerald,” which may derive either by way of Sanskrit or directly from a Semitic source akin to Hebrew bāreqeth “gemstone, emerald.” Bāreqeth and its Arabic relative barq, “lightning,” come from a Semitic root roughly meaning “to flash, shine.” Because of a variety of regular sound changes, Latin smaragdus evolved into Old French esmeragde (also esmeralde) and was adapted into English as emerald. For fans of Disney or Victor Hugo, this Old French word is also the source of the name Esmeralda. Smaragdine was first recorded in English in the late 14th century. EXAMPLE OF SMARAGDINE USED IN A SENTENCE Because the ink was not yet dry on the drawing of the Emerald City, the artist left a smaragdine smear when he brushed his hand against the page.

Rubricate, “to mark or color with red,” comes from Latin rūbrīca, “red ocher,” which is also the source of English rubric, “any established mode of conduct or procedure.” The shift in definition here is because rubric originally referred in English to a title or heading in a book that was written in red for easy distinction from the rest of the text (in black), and red ocher was ground to produce the pigment once used in red ink. Rūbrīca comes from ruber, which is one of multiple Latin words for “red,” as we learned from the Word of the Day rufescent. Rubricate was first recorded in English in the 1560s. EXAMPLE OF RUBRICATE USED IN A SENTENCE Looking at the old tome through the display case glass, she imagined the scribe who painstakingly rubricated all of the chapter headings.

Precocity, “the state of ripening early,” ultimately comes from Latin praecox, “early ripening,” from the verb praecoquere, “to bake early, ripen early.” The prae- element means “before” and is the ancestor of English pre-; Latin ae often becomes English e, as we also saw in the Word of the Day preternatural. The verb coquere, “to cook,” is the source of numerous words in English, whether from Latin directly (concoct), by way of French (biscuit, charcuterie, cuisine), via Italian (ricotta, terra cotta), through Old English (cook, kitchen), or using another route entirely (apricot). Precocity was first recorded in English in the 1630s. EXAMPLE OF PRECOCITY USED IN A SENTENCE After centuries of hybridizing the plant, the strawberry is now widely known for its precocity.

Jamboree, “any large gathering with a partylike atmosphere,” is an Americanism of unknown origin. Though the term is often associated with the Scouts, its appearance in English predates the Scout Movement by about 40 years. One proposal is that jamboree is an elaboration of jam in the sense “a mass of people or things pressed tightly together,” perhaps on the pattern of the recent Word of the Day shivaree. Note that the sense “a gathering of jazz musicians” of jam isn’t attested until the late 1920s, so this definition could not be the root behind jamboree, which was first recorded in English in the early 1860s. EXAMPLE OF JAMBOREE USED IN A SENTENCE The 48-hour period that Boxing Day, Christmas, and Kwanzaa all share is ample cause for celebration, but this year’s overlap with Hanukkah as well is what warrants a nationwide jamboree!

Luminaria, “a lantern consisting of a candle set in sand inside a paper bag,” is a borrowing from Spanish, from Latin lūmināria, which is the plural of lūmināre, “lamp.” Though it isn’t common for plural nouns to become singular (or vice versa) after borrowing into another language, it isn’t unheard of, either; as we learned from the Word of the Day fomites, the reverse happened with cherry and pea. The source of lūmināre is lūmen (stem lūmin-), “light,” which is the source of French lumière, Italian lume, and Romanian lumină, all meaning “light,” as well as Spanish lumbre, “fire, fuel, combustible material.” Luminaria was first recorded in English in the late 1940s. EXAMPLE OF LUMINARIA USED IN A SENTENCE As they lit each luminaria that lined the walkway, they hoped passersby would find solace and joy in the warm glow.