Word of the Day

Iatrogenic “caused by the treatment of a physician” is a compound based on the Ancient Greek-origin combining forms iatro- “doctor, healer, medicine” and -genic “producing or causing.” Iatro- comes from Ancient Greek iātrós “healer,” from iâsthai “to heal,” which is also the source of geriatric, pediatrician, psychiatry, and the name Jason. The element -genic comes from Ancient Greek -genēs “born, produced,” which is also the source of cosmogenic, hallucinogenic, and the name Eugene. Iatrogenic was first recorded in English in the early 1920s.

Yé-yé “of the French rock-’n’-roll culture of the 1960s” is a borrowing from French that, in turn, is adapted from English yeah-yeah. Yeah is a variant of either yea or yes; yea (pronounced as “yey”) comes from Old English gēa “so,” while yes is a compound of gēa and Old English sī “be it.” A similar shift in meaning happened in some Romance languages, with Latin sīc “so” becoming Portuguese sim and Spanish sí “yes.” The process of a borrowed word getting borrowed back into its language of origin is called reborrowing, and another well-known example is how English animation was adapted in Japanese as anime, which was itself borrowed back into English as anime. Yé-yé was first recorded in English in the early 1960s.

Veracious “characterized by truthfulness” is based on the noun veracity “truthfulness,” combined with the adjective-forming suffix -ous. Veracity comes from Latin vērāx “truthful,” a derivative of vērus, of the same meaning. As we learned from the recent Word of the Day aver, Latin vērus is a distant relative of Old English wǣr “faith, covenant,” the source of warlock, which meant “oathbreaker” once upon a time. Another derivative of vērus is Old French voir (modern French vrai) “true,” as in voir dire (literally “to say truly”), a type of oath in which the voir element is often mistakenly believed to come from modern French voir “to see.” Be careful not to confuse veracious with voracious “craving large amounts of food,” from Latin vorāx “gluttonous.” Veracious was first recorded in the 1670s.

Gens du monde “people of the world” is a borrowing from French comprising gens “people,” du “of the,” and monde “world.” Gens is a plural noun that comes from Latin gēns (stem gent-) “clan, nation, race,” which is also the source of gendarme, genteel, gentile, and gentle. The singular form of gens is gent, but only the plural gens is used in modern French; for perpetual plurals in modern English, compare binoculars, clothes, contents, jeans, outskirts, scissors, thanks, and trousers. French monde comes from Latin mundus, which originally meant “clean” before expanding to mean “elegant, decorated,” then “ornament, implement,” and finally “the heavens, world.” Gens du monde was first recorded in English at the turn of the 19th century.

Ailurophile “a person who likes cats'' is a compound of two Ancient Greek-origin combining forms: ailuro- “cat” and -phile “lover of, enthusiast for.” Ailuro- comes from Ancient Greek aílouros “cat,” which is of uncertain origin, but a popular explanation is that it is based on aiólos “fickle, changeful” (compare aeolo-, as in aeolotropic) and ourá “tail” (compare uro-, as in uropod). The word aiólos also gives rise to the name Aeolus, the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology, and past Word of the Day aeolian “of or caused by the wind,” but it is not related to the combining form aero- “air.” Take care not to confuse uro- “tail” with uro- “urine,” which comes from Ancient Greek oûron. Despite the similar spelling, there does not appear to be any deeper connection between the two forms. Ailurophile was first recorded in English in the late 1920s.