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.
of or relating to a lake.
The adjective lacustrine, “relating to a lake; living or growing in lakes,” is a technical term used in geology (lacustrine strata, lacustrine deltas) and biology (lacustrine plants, lacustrine fauna). Lacustrine comes from French or Italian lacustre “relating to a lake” and the naturalized English adjective suffix -ine. The French and Italian adjectives are irregularly formed from Latin lacus “lake, pond, pool,” and the Latin adjective suffix -estris, -estre, on the analogy of Latin palustris, palustre “swampy, marshy,” formed from palūs “swamp, fen.” Lacustrine entered English in the first half of the 19th century.
a paste, powder, liquid, or other preparation for cleaning the teeth.
Dentifrice, “a paste or other preparation for cleaning the teeth,” comes via Middle French from Latin dentifricium, a compound of denti-, the stem and combining form of dens “tooth,” and -fricium, a derivative of the verb fricāre “to rub, chafe, massage.” The Romans made a dentifrice of the ashes of murex shells, which is not recommended by the American Dental Association. Dentifrice entered English in the first half of the 15th century.
of or relating to clothing or style or manner of dress.
The adjective sartorial, “relating to tailors or tailoring,” is a derivative of the Late Latin noun sartor (inflectional stem sartōr-) “a tailor,” a derivative of the verb sarcīre “to patch, mend.” One of the many duties of Roman censors was to let out contracts for the repair and maintenance of public buildings, roads, bridges, etc., the technical phrase for these operations being sarta tecta (neuter plural) “repairs,” literally “mended roofs, patched roofs, weatherproof buildings.” But as Rome’s power grew, so did opportunities for corruption in the competition for lucrative contracts. Sartorial entered English in the first half of the 19th century.
invested with or possessing full power.
The adjective plenipotent,“invested with or possessing full power,” comes from Late Latin plēnipotent- (stem of plēnipotēns), which is composed of plēni-, the combining form of plēnus “full” and potent-, the combining form of potēns, the present participle of posse “to be able, have power.” Plenipotent is not as common in English as its close relative, the adjective and noun plenipotentiary (as a noun, plenipotentiary usually refers to a diplomat with full power to conduct business or negotiations.) Plenipotent entered English in 1639; plenipotentiary in 1646.
a word or phrase that appears only once in a manuscript, document, or particular area of literature.
The phrase hapax legomenon, “a word or phrase appearing only once in literature,” comes from Greek hápax legomenon, composed of the adverb hápax “once, one time” and the neuter singular present passive participle legómenon “(being) said,” from the verb légein “to say.” (Hapax is also used by itself in English as a noun; the plural of hapax legomenon is hapax legomena.) One famous hapax—as far as these things go—is the adjective epioúsion in the phrase árton… epioúsion in the clause “(Give us this day our) daily bread,” in the Lord’s Prayer in the gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke. The Greek noun ártos means “wheat bread, bread (in general)” and presents no problem. Epioúsion may mean “(enough) for today, today's, next day’s, necessary, sufficient.” Epioúsion is variously translated in Latin: one of them, quotīdiānum “daily,” is an inadequate, even wrong translation of epioúsion, but it was used in Tyndale’s translation of the Bible (1534) and the King James Bible (1611), and it is used today in most modern English translations. Hapax legomenon entered English in the late 17th century.
