Word of the Day

Faustian “sacrificing spiritual values for power, knowledge, or material gain” is derived from the name of the part-historical, part-legendary figure Johann Georg Faust, whose surname often appears instead as the more Latin-sounding Faustus. The surname Faust is of uncertain origin but may derive either from the Latin adjective faustus “fortunate, lucky,” a cognate of favorable and favorite, or from the German noun Faust “fist.” Faust’s first notable appearance in the English-speaking world was as the main character of Christopher Marlowe’s play The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, in which Faust makes a deal with the Devil that leads to an unfortunate end. Though originally written in German, another famous play featuring this character was Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which was published almost 200 years after Marlowe’s earlier work. Faustian was first recorded in English in the late 1870s.

Prestidigitation “sleight of hand” is a borrowing from French, in which it literally means “nimble-fingeredness.” From there, the etymology becomes a bit murky. The -digit- element is clear; it derives from Latin digitus “finger,” which is also the source of digital (literally “of or relating to fingers”). For the presti- element, in contrast, there are at least three theories. The first is that presti- comes from Latin praestō “at hand,” a compound of prae “before” and a derivation from the Proto-Indo-European root ghes- “hand.” A second theory derives Latin praestō instead from prae and stāre “to stand,” which would make prestidigitation a distant relative of words such as stable, stand, state, and static. The third theory asserts that prestidigitation is a coinage based on or at least influenced by French prestigiateur “juggler, conjurer,” from Latin praestīgiae “juggler’s tricks,” a compound of prae and stringere “to bind fast,” which would make prestidigitation a distant relative of strait, stress, strict, and stringent. Prestidigitation was first recorded in English in the 1840s.

Verst “a Russian measure of distance equivalent to 3,500 feet” is borrowed by way of either French or German from Russian verstá, from Old Russian vĭrsta “age; measure of length.” Though these two definitions are rather different, their connection is measurement, whether of time or distance. Vĭrsta derives from the Proto-Indo-European root wert- “to turn,” which is also the source of a profusion of words related to turning, twisting, and bending. The English suffix -ward (as in forward, inward, outward, and toward) is one such derivative, as are warp, worm, wrangle, wrap, wreath, wrench, wrestle, wring, wrinkle, wrist, and writhe. This root is also found in words that figuratively indicate turning in a negative direction, such as awry, weird, worry, wrath, and wrong. By way of Latin, English has inherited terms such as diversion, introvert, versatile, versus, vertebra, and vertex (from vertere “to turn”); reverberate (from verber “whip”); and converge and diverge (from vergere “to be inclined”). Several Ancient Greek-origin terms, such as rhapsody (from rháptein “to stitch”) and rhombus (from rhémbein “to revolve”), also derive from the same root. Verst was first recorded in English in the mid-1500s.

Cryosphere “the part of the earth’s surface where the water is frozen solid” is a compound of the combining form cryo-, which describes cold and ice, and sphere. Cryo- derives from Ancient Greek krýos “icy cold,” which comes from the same Proto-Indo-European root that gives us crystal (from Ancient Greek krýstallos “clear ice”) and both crouton and crustacean (from Latin crusta “crust”). Sphere comes from Ancient Greek sphaîra “ball,” and outside the realm of geometry, the combining form -sphere is often used in English to describe geographic or ecological regions (such as biosphere and noosphere) and air layers (such as atmosphere and stratosphere). Cryosphere was first recorded in English in the late 1930s.

Shivaree “a mock serenade with noisemakers” is of obscure origin, though there is a general prevailing theory. Much like recent Word of the Day shivoo, which we learned about in June, shivaree is likely a corruption of the French term charivari. Charivari is also of obscure origin but may derive, via Late Latin carībaria “headache,” from Ancient Greek karēbaría, equivalent to kárā or kárē “head,” barýs “heavy,” and the abstract noun suffix -ía. The logic is that a noisy, boisterous celebration would cause quite the headache! An alternative theory is that shivaree, again like shivoo, derives instead from the French phrase chez vous “at your home.” Shivaree was first recorded in English in the early 1800s.