Word of the Day

Yakka “work” is a term in Australian slang that used to be spelled variously as yacker or yakker, among other options. Because Australian English is a variety of English that is non-rhotic, dropping the r sound after a vowel, the original spelling of yakka may have changed to reflect this r-dropping tendency. While the ultimate source of yakka is obscure, the most popular hypothesis is a derivation from yaga “to work,” a word from the Yagara language. Yagara, also known as Turrbal, is a language native to Queensland, the northeasternmost state of Australia, and belongs to the Pama–Nyungan language family, as do three-quarters of all aboriginal languages of Australia. Yakka was first recorded in English in the late 1880s.

Gnomon “the raised part of a sundial that casts the shadow” is a borrowing by way of Latin gnōmōn from Ancient Greek gnṓmōn “interpreter, discerner.” From there, gnṓmōn is derived from the verb gignṓskein (stem gnō-) “to know, perceive, judge,” and the stem gnō- also appears in other Ancient Greek-origin terms such as agnostic (literally “without knowledge”) and diagnosis (literally “means of discernment”). Because Ancient Greek and Latin are distantly related, Latin contains numerous words related to knowledge that also feature the telltale gn- element, including cognitive (“learned”), incognito (“unknown”), ignorant (“not knowing”), and recognize (“know again”). Gnomon was first recorded in English in the 1540s.

Ataraxia “freedom from anxiety” is a borrowing from the Ancient Greek noun ataraxía “impassiveness, calmness,” which is based on the adjective ataráktos “unmoved.” Ataráktos, in turn, is a derivative of the verb tarássein (stem tarak-) “to disturb,” plus the prefix a- “not, without.” One major proponent of ataraxia is the philosopher Epicurus, the inspiration for the recent Word of the Day epicurean. When we discuss the “Ancient Greek” language, we usually mean the Attic dialect of Ancient Greek spoken in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. However, where other Ancient Greek dialects have -ss-, Attic has -tt-, and for these words, Ancient Greek dictionaries opt for the more generic tarássein over the Attic taráttein. This means that, if your name is Melissa, from the Ancient Greek word for “honeybee,” you would be known throughout most of Ancient Greece as Mélissa but in Attica as Mélitta. Ataraxia was first recorded in English in the first decade of the 17th century.

Ungulate “a hoofed mammal” derives from Late Latin ungulātus “having claws or hoofs.” The root of this word, Latin ungula “claw, hoof, talon,” may sound a little familiar if you speak a Romance language because it is also the source of many modern words for “fingernail,” such as French ongle, Italian unghia, and Spanish uña. Ungula, literally meaning “little nail,” is a compound of unguis “nail” and the suffix -ula, which is one of several common diminutive affixes in Latin; another such affix is the element -ill-, as featured in the etymology for the recent Word of the Day selection cantillate. Ungulate was first recorded in English circa 1800.

Forfend “to defend, secure, protect” comes from the Middle English verb forfenden, a compound of the prefix for- and the verb fend. The first element, for-, was frequently used in Middle and Old English to create words with the sense “off, away, extremely” or to imply a negative or prohibitive force, such as forbid, forget, and forgo. The second element, fend, is a reduced form of defend, which derives via French from the Latin verb dēfendere “to repel, ward off” and is a distant relative of bane (from Old English bana “slayer”) and the recent Word of the Day bezoar (from Persian pād-zahr “counterpoison”). Forfend was first recorded in English in the late 14th century.