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.
to cross in the form of an X; intersect.
The verb decussate “to cross in the form of an X; intersect,” comes from Latin decussāt-, the inflectional stem of decussātus, the past participle of the verb decussāre “to mark with a cross or an X.” Decussāre is a derivative of the noun decussis “a bronze ten-piece coin; the number ten, a decade; an X-shaped mark” (X was the Latin symbol for 10). Decussis is a reduced form of decem “ten” and as (also assis) “a copper coin or monetary unit; a penny.” Decussate entered English in the second half of the 17th century.
impressively or overwhelmingly large, luxurious, etc.
The adjective pharaonic, “pertaining to or like a Pharaoh; impressively or overwhelmingly large,” is a derivative of the noun Pharaoh. Pharaoh comes via Late Latin Pharaō (inflectional stem Pharaōn-) from Greek Pharaṓ (inflectional stem Pharaōn-), from Hebrew parʿō, from Egyptian pr-ʿʾ (probably pronounced like the Hebrew parʿō) “great house” (the order is the noun pr-, then the adjective ʿʾ). In Egyptian pr-ʿʾ was not the name of a Pharaoh, but the name of a Pharaoh's (palatial) residence, very like our own “The White House.” Pharaonic entered English toward the end of the 18th century.
a clever, unscrupulous person.
Snollygoster “a clever, unscrupulous person,” is an American slang term that first appears in print in 1845 in Marion County, Indiana. As with many, if not most slang terms, there is no reliable etymology for the word. Some authorities have suggested that snollygoster is a variant of snallygaster, a mythical monster that preys on poultry and children and is supposedly found in Maryland, but the earliest citation for snallygaster is 1940, nearly a century after snollygoster.
personification, as of inanimate things.
You can charge a lot for a learned Greek word like prosopopoeia, a term in rhetoric meaning “personification, as of inanimate things; imaging an absent or dead person as speaking or acting.” Prosopoeia is very effective when a master like Demosthenes or Cicero uses it, not so much when it’s badly bungled in a sermon. Prosopoeia comes via Latin prosopopoeia from Greek prosōpoiía “putting speeches in the mouths of characters, dramatization.” Prosōpoiía is composed of the noun prósōpon “face, countenance, person” and the Greek combining form -poiía “making, creating,” a derivative of the verb poieîn “to make” (ultimate source of English poesy and poetry). Prósōpon, literally “opposite the face (of the other),” is composed of the preposition and prefix pros-, pros “toward, in the face of” and the noun ṓps “eye, face, countenance.” Prosopopoeia entered English in the mid-16th century.
feeling, showing, or expressing sorrow, repentance, or regret.
The adjective rueful is easy to define: “full of rue,” but what is rue? The noun rue comes from Middle English reu(e) “pity, someone or something causing sorrow, a disgrace” (herte-reue means “sorrow in one’s heart”). Reu(e) comes from Old English hrēow “sorrow, regret, penitence, repentance,” and is akin to Old Frisian rīowa, Old Dutch rouwe, Dutch rouw, Old High German (h)riuwa, German Reue, all meaning “regret, remorse, repentance.” The noun ruth “pity, compassion; sorrow, grief” comes from Middle English reuth(e) (it has many extravagant spellings), a derivative of the adjective reu(e) plus the suffix -th, which forms nouns of action such as birth, bath, or of state, such as breadth, width. Lastly, the personal name Ruth comes from Hebrew Rūth, possibly a contracted form of rəʿūth “friend(s), female friend(s).” Rueful entered English in the first half of the 13th century.
