Word of the Day
Learn a new word every day! The Dictionary.com team of language experts carefully selects each Word of the Day to add some panache to your vocabulary.
a periodic irregularity in the moon's motion, caused by the attraction of the sun.
Evection, “a periodic irregularity in the moon's motion,” comes from Latin ēvectiō (stem ēvectiōn-) “a going upwards, flight.” Ēvectiō is based on the verb ēvehere “to carry forth, move forth,” from ē (or ex) “out of, from, beyond” and vehere “to carry, drag.” Vehere has two common stems in English: veh-, as found in vehement and vehicle, and vect-, as in convection and vector. Distant relatives of vehere in English include way, wagon, weigh, wiggle, and even Norway (literally “north way”). Evection was first recorded in English in the 1650s.
pertaining to the rising of the Dog Star (also called Sirius) or to the star itself.
Canicular, “pertaining to Sirius, the Dog Star,” is equivalent to Latin Canīcula “Sirius” plus -āris, an adjective-forming suffix. Canīcula literally means “little dog” and is based on canis “dog,” plus the feminine diminutive suffix -cula (compare English -cle or -cule, as in molecule and particle). Canis survives today as French chien, Italian cane, and Portuguese cão, but Spanish can has declined in favor of perro, of unclear origin. A direct descendant of Canīcula is French canicule “heat wave,” which previously referred to the dog days of summer. This period of the year takes its name in both English and Romance languages from the appearance of Sirius in the northern sky, and the co-occurrence with hot weather gives dog days as well as French canicule their heated sense. Canicular was first recorded in English in the late 14th century.
the point at which the stars of a binary system are farthest apart.
Apastron, “the point at which binary stars are farthest apart,” is based on Ancient Greek apó “away, off, apart” and ástron “star, constellation.” Apó, which remains apo- in English before most consonants (as in apology) but becomes ap- before vowels and h (as in aphorism). Distant relatives of apó, all featuring a telltale labial (using the lips) consonant, include English after and off, Latin ab “away from,” and Sanskrit ápa “away, off.” Ástron is based on astḗr “star” (compare the recent Words of the Day asterism and astronaut), which is a cognate and synonym of English star and Latin stella (compare the recent Words of the Day circumstellar and stellate). Apastron was first recorded in English in the early 1840s.
a ballet technique for mastering the art of slow, controlled movement and statuelike posing.
Plastique, “a ballet technique for mastering slow movement,” is the French cognate of plastic. Both terms come by way of Latin plasticus “moldable” from Ancient Greek plastikós, formed from plastós “formed, molded.” Plastós is based on the verb plássein (stem plath-) “to form, mold” and -tos, an adjective-forming suffix, with the change from the expected “plathtós” to the actual plastós perhaps for easier pronunciation. Other derivatives of plássein include plasma, plaster, rhinoplasty, and the recent Words of the Day plasticity and esemplastic. While plastic in English dates to circa 1630, plastique was first recorded in English circa 1800.
with great care or caution; warily.
Despite the similar spelling and pronunciation, gingerly “with great care or caution” has nothing to do with the spicy root ginger. Gingerly is of uncertain origin but may come from Middle French gensor “delicate, pretty” (from gent “gentle”) combined with English -ly, an adjective- and adverb-forming suffix. The ultimate source of gensor is either the Latin verb gignere (stem genit-) “to beget” or the Latin noun gēns (stem gent-) “race, people.” In contrast, ginger comes via Latin from Ancient Greek zingíberis, perhaps by way of Sanskrit śṛṅgaveram or Pali siṃgiveram from a Dravidian language; compare Malayalam and Tamil iñci “ginger.” Gingerly was first recorded in English in the 1510s.
