Today’s Word : syzygy

Word : syzygy

PRONUNCIATION:

(SIZ-uh-jee)

 

MEANING:

noun:
1. An alignment of three objects, for example, sun, moon, and earth during an eclipse.
2. A pair of related things.

 

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin syzygia, from Greek syzygia (union, pair). Ultimately from the Indo-European root yeug- (to join), which is also the ancestor of junction, yoke, yoga, adjust, juxtapose, rejoinder, jugular, and junta. Earliest documented use: 1656.

 

NOTES:

One could hyperpolysyllabically contrive a longer word having four Ys, but syzygy nicely lines up three of them organically in just six letters.

 

USAGE:

“‘To me it’s two dots that connect,’ Douglas Coupland says, ‘I don’t know if there’s going to be a third one so it makes a syzygy.'”
John Barber; Douglas Coupland; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Oct 2, 2009.

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courtesy: wordsmith

Today’s Word : oenophile

Word: oenophile

PRONUNCIATION:

(EE-nuh-fyl) 

MEANING:

noun: Someone who enjoys wine, especially as a connoisseur.
ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek oinos (wine), + -phile (love). Earliest documented use: 1930.
USAGE:

“While I am more than happy to drink wine of all nations and colours, my husband Don is the family oenophile.”
Ann Morrison; Confessions of an Underqualified Oenophile; Financial Times (London, UK); Jun 10, 2006.

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courtesy: wordsmith

Today’s Word : stupefy

Word : stupefy
PRONUNCIATION:
(STOO-puh-fy, STYOO-) 

 MEANING:

verb tr.:
1. To make someone so bored or tired as unable to think clearly.
2. To amaze. 


ETYMOLOGY:
From French stupéfier (to astound), from Latin stupefacere (to make stupid or senseless), from stupere (to be numb or amazed) + facere (to make). Earliest documented use: before 1600. 


USAGE:
“Craig Kimbrel’s stuff has an almost narcotic attraction to it, an irresistible quality that can stupefy.”
Steve Hummer; Braves Closer Took Unusual Path to Role; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia); May 21, 2011. 

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courtesy: wordsmith

Today’s Word : discomfit

Word : discomfit

PRONUNCIATION:
(dis-KUHM-fit) 

MEANING:

1. To confuse or embarrass.
2. To thwart the plans of.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Old French desconfit (defeated), past participle of desconfire (to defeat), from des- (not) + confire (to make), from Latin facere (to make). Earliest documented use: around 1230.

USAGE:
“Berlusconi accuses politically motivated prosecutors of leaking details of investigations to discomfit him.”
Unbalanced Scales; The Economist (London, UK); Oct 8, 2011.

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Today’s Word : ignominy

Word : ignominy

PRONUNCIATION:

(IG-nuh-min-ee, ig-NOM-uh-nee)  

MEANING:

noun: 1. Public disgrace. 2. Disgraceful quality or conduct.

ETYMOLOGY:

Via French, from Latin ignominia. Ultimately from the Indo-European root no-men- (name) which also gave us name, anonymous, noun, synonym, eponym, renown, nominate, misnomer, and moniker. Earliest documented use: 1540.

USAGE:

“Nor is JAL likely to suffer the ignominy of an immediate slump in the share price, as Facebook did after its IPO, analysts say.”
From Bloated to Floated; The Economist (London, UK); Sep 15, 2012.

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(courtesy : wordsmith)

Today’s Word : hircine

WORD: hircine

PRONUNCIATION:

(HUHR-syn, -sin)

MEANING:

adjective:

1. Of or relating to a goat.
2. Having a strong odor.
3. Lustful; lewd.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin hircus (goat). Earliest documented use: 1656.

USAGE:

“The showgirls, all looking to be in their early 20s, came out and posed next to the hircine and bearded Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill, the guitarist and the bassist.”
Peter Watrous; America’s Pulse as Taken by ZZ Top; The New York Times; Jun 8, 1994.

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Today’s Word : impetuous

Word:  impetuous

PRONUNCIATION:

(im-PECH-oo-uhs)

MEANING:

adjective: Marked by impulsiveness or impatience.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin impetus (assault, impetus), from impetere (to attack), from in- (in) + petere (to go to). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pet- (to rush or fly), which also gave us feather, petition, compete, perpetual, pterodactyl, helicopter, propitious, pinnate, and lepidopterology (study of butterflies and moths). Earliest documented use: 1398.

USAGE:

“Fools rush in … Taylor Swift often acts, well, like an impetuous teen straight out of one of her songs.”
Eric Andersson; Why Taylor Can’t Find Love; Us Weekly (New York); Nov 19, 2012.

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Today’s Word : scrobiculate

Word: scrobiculate

PRONUNCIATION:

(skroh-BIK-yuh-layt)

MEANING:

adjective:
Having many small grooves; furrowed.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin scrobiculus (small planting hole), diminutive of scrobis (trench). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sker- (to cut), which is also the source of skirt, curt, screw, shard, shears, carnage, carnivorous, carnation, sharp, and scrape. Earliest documented use: 1806.

USAGE:

“The stalk is scrobiculate and at first slightly sticky.”
Alexander Smith and Nancy Weber; The Mushroom Hunter’s Field Guide; University of Michigan Press; 1980.

Today’s Word: catawampus

Word: catawampus

PRONUNCIATION:

(kat-uh-WOM-puhs)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Askew; crooked.
2. Diagonally positioned: catercornered.

ETYMOLOGY:

From cater (diagonally), from French word quatre (four). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kwetwer- (four), which also gave us four, square, cadre, quadrant, quarantine (literally, period of forty days). Earliest documented use: 1840. The word is also spelled as cattywampus.

USAGE:

“Have you noticed that life seems a bit catawampus lately?”
Scott Marcus; Managing Stress; Times-Standard (Eureka, California); Apr 3, 2011.”A well-used Old Town canoe lies catawampus at the entrance to the cellar.”
Stephen Williams; Why Ask for the Moon? The New York Times; Jun 10, 2007.

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Today’s Word: nincompoop

Word: nincompoop

PRONUNCIATION:
(NIN-kuhm-poop, NING-)

MEANING:

noun: A silly or stupid person.

ETYMOLOGY:
Origin unknown. Earliest documented use: 1673.

USAGE:
“I was a nincompoop. A moron. A blockhead.”
Jeanne Birdsall; The Penderwicks at Point Mouette; Knopf; 2011.

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