Word of the Day
More about Stygian
Stygian originally referred to Styx, one of the mythological rivers of the underworld. Ancient Greek Stýx likely shares an origin with several words relating to hatred, and the Greeks once believed that swearing on the river’s name created an unbreakable vow. Stygian was first recorded in English in the 1560s.
EXAMPLE OF STYGIAN USED IN A SENTENCE
The basement was a windowless, Stygian space, with only a single flickering fluorescent providing the weakest of light.
sewellel
noun
a small, burrowing rodent of the Pacific coastal region of North America, also known as the mountain beaver.
More about sewellel
Sewellel is an adaptation of š-walál, a term from the Lower Chinook language of the Pacific Northwest that refers to a robe made of mountain beaver skins. When explorer Meriwether Lewis (of the Lewis and Clark expedition) heard š-walál, he misunderstood the term as referring to the mountain beaver itself and transcribed it as sewellel in 1806.
EXAMPLE OF SEWELLEL USED IN A SENTENCE
The sewellel poked its head out from its burrow and went off to forage for food.
miasma
noun
a poisonous cloud of vapor produced by decaying organic matter.
Why the Museum of Science chose miasma
To find out, watch this video from science communicator Alex Dainis, PhD.
Learn more at the Museum of Science.
More about miasma
Miasma derives from Ancient Greek míasma, meaning “pollution, stain.” The mías- element comes from the verb miaínein, “to pollute, stain,” while -ma is a common suffix that also appears in eczema, enigma, and stigma. Miasma was first recorded in English around 1660.
EXAMPLE OF MIASMA USED IN A SENTENCE
The impassable swamp was known for the many miasmata that drifted through the air, threatening to suffocate travelers.
