31 August 2013
vested
[ves-tid]
adjective
1. held completely, permanently, and inalienably: vested rights.
2. protected or established by law, commitment, tradition, ownership, etc.: vested contributions to a fund.
3. clothed or robed, especially in ecclesiastical vestments: a vested priest.
4. having a vest; sold with a vest: a vested suit.
Origin:
1665–75; vest + -ed2
Related forms
non·vest·ed, adjective
un·vest·ed, adjective
30 August 2013
cadastre
[kuh-das-ter]
noun
– an official register of the ownership, extent, and value of real property in a given area, used as a basis of taxation.
Also, ca·das·ter.
Origin:
1795–1805; < French < Provençal cadastro < Italian catastro, earlier ( Venetian ) catastico < Late Greek katástichon register, derivative of phrase katà stíchon by line; see cata-, stich
29 August 2013
jounce
[jouns]
verb, jounced, jounc·ing, noun
verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
1. to move joltingly or roughly up and down; bounce.
noun
2. a jouncing movement.
Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English; apparently blend of joll to bump (now obsolete) and bounce
28 August 2013
machinima
[muh-shee-nuh-muh]
noun
1. the process of making real-time animated films by utilizing the 3-D graphics technology of computer games.
2. a film or films made in this way.
Origin:
misspelled blend of machine and cinema
27 August 2013
sally
noun, plural sal·lies, verb, sal·lied, sal·ly·ing.
noun
1. a sortie of troops from a besieged place upon an enemy.
2. a sudden rushing forth or activity.
3. an excursion or trip, usually off the main course.
4. an outburst or flight of passion, fancy, etc.: a sally of anger.
5. a clever, witty, or fanciful remark.
verb (used without object)
6. Carpentry. a projection, as of the end of a rafter beyond the notch by which the rafter is fitted over the wall plate.
7. to make a sally, as a body of troops from a besieged place.
8. to set out on a side trip or excursion.
9. to set out briskly or energetically.
10. (of things) to issue forth.
26 August 2013
scry
[skrahy]
verb (used without object), scried, scry·ing.
– to use divination to discover hidden knowledge or future events, especially by means of a crystal ball.
Origin:
aphetic shortening of descry
Related forms
scry·er, noun
25 August 2013
bemuse
[bih-myooz]
verb (used with object), be·mused, be·mus·ing.
– to bewilder or confuse (someone).
Origin:
1695–1705; be- + muse
Related forms
be·muse·ment, noun
Can be confused: amuse, bemuse (see synonym study at amuse).
Example:
We are bemused and crazed creatures, strangers to our true selves, to one another, and to the spiritual and material world—mad, even, from an ideal standpoint we can glimpse but not adopt.
– R.D. Laing
24 August 2013
nonplus
[non-pluhs, non-pluhs]
verb, non·plussed or non·plused, non·plus·sing or non·plus·ing, noun
verb (used with object)
1. to render utterly perplexed; puzzle completely.
noun
2. a state of utter perplexity.
Example:
He was utterly nonplussed by the announcement.
Origin:
1575–85; (noun) < Latin nōn plūs literally, not more, no further, i.e., a state in which nothing more can be done
Synonyms
1. perplex, confuse, confound, disconcert.
23 August 2013
pauciloquent
[poh-sil-oh-kwent]
adjective.
– Uttering few words; brief in speech.
Example
For a politician, he was suprisingly pauciloquent.
22 August 2013
addle
[ad-l]
verb, ad·dled, ad·dling, adjective
verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
1. to make or become confused.
2. to make or become rotten, as eggs.
adjective
3. mentally confused; muddled. e.g. Too addled to study.
4. rotten: addle eggs.
Origin:
before 1000; Middle English adel rotten, Old English adela liquid, filth; cognate with Middle Low German adele liquid manure
Related forms
un·ad·dled, adjective
21 August 2013
progenitor
[proh-jen-i-ter]
noun
1. a biologically related ancestor: a progenitor of the species.
2. a person or thing that first indicates a direction, originates something, or serves as a model; predecessor; precursor: the progenitor of modern painting.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin prōgenitor the founder of a family. See pro-1 , genitor
Related forms
pro·gen·i·to·ri·al [proh-jen-i-tawr-ee-uhl, -tohr-] Show IPA , adjective
pro·gen·i·tor·ship, noun
20 August 2013
levee (1)
[lev-ee]
noun, verb, lev·eed, lev·ee·ing.
noun
1. an embankment designed to prevent the flooding of a river.
2. Geology , natural levee.
3. Agriculture . one of the small continuous ridges surrounding fields that are to be irrigated.
4. History/Historical . a landing place for ships; quay.
verb (used with object)
5. to furnish with a levee: to levee a treacherous stream.
Example:
If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break,
If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break,
When The Levee Breaks I’ll have no place to stay.
– From When the Levee Breaks, a blues song written by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. Later recorded by Led Zeppelin and released on Led Zeppelin IV in 1971.
Origin:
1710–20, Americanism; < French levée < Medieval Latin levāta embankment, noun use of feminine past participle of Latin levāre to raise, orig. lighten, akin to levis light, not heavy
levee (2)
[lev-ee, le-vee]
noun
1. (in Great Britain) a public court assembly, held in the early afternoon, at which men only are received.
2. a reception, usually in someone’s honor: a presidential levee at the White House.
3. History/Historical . a reception of visitors held on rising from bed, as formerly by a royal or other personage.
Origin:
1665–75; < French levé, variant spelling of lever rising (noun use of infinitive) < Latin levāre to raise; see levee1
19 August 2013
levy
[lev-ee]
noun, plural lev·ies, verb, lev·ied, lev·y·ing.
noun
1. an imposing or collecting, as of a tax, by authority or force.
2. the amount owed or collected.
3. the conscription of troops.
4. the troops conscripted.
verb (used with object)
5. to impose (a tax): to levy a duty on imports.
6. to conscript (troops).
7. to start or wage (to levy war).
verb (used without object)
8. to seize or attach property by judicial order.
Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English leve ( e ) < Middle French, noun use of feminine past participle of lever to raise < Latin levāre, akin to levis light; cf. levee2
Related forms
re·lev·y, verb (used with object), re·lev·ied, re·lev·y·ing.
self-lev·ied, adjective
un·lev·ied, adjective
Can be confused: levee, levy.
Synonyms
– draft, enlist, call-up.
18 August 2013
détente
[dey-tahnt; French dey-tahnt]
noun, plural dé·tentes [dey-tahnts; French dey-tahnt]
– a relaxing of tension, especially between nations, as by negotiations or agreements, e.g. The USA and USSR reached a détente regarding the escalating missile crisis.
Also, de·tente.
Origin:
1905–10; < French; see detent
17 August 2013
bower
[bou-er]
noun
1. a leafy shelter or recess; arbor.
2. a rustic dwelling; cottage.
3. a lady’s boudoir in a medieval castle.
verb (used with object)
4. to enclose in or as in a bower; embower.
Example:
‘Sister I implore you, take him by the hand,
take him to some shady bower, save me from the wrath of this man,
please take him, save me from the wrath of this mad man’.
– from ‘Gallow’s Pole‘ by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, who had rewritten and reinterpreted the song ‘Gallow’s Pole‘ by Fred Gerlach, which was a version of an old blues song called ‘Gallis Pole‘ by Leadbelly, which was based on a country and western song called ‘Slack Your Rope‘ by Jimmie Driftwood, which was based on a 15th century British ballad called ‘The Maid Freed from the Gallows‘. Many versions of this song have been done, but Zeppelin’s version is one of the few in which the protagonist is hanged even after all the bribes given to the hangman.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English bour, Old English būr chamber; cognate with Old Norse būr pantry, German Bauer birdcage; akin to neighbor
Related forms
bow·er·like, adjective
16 August 2013
felicitation
[fi-lis-i-tey-shuhn]
noun
– an expression of good wishes; congratulation.
Origin:
1700–10; felicitate + -ion
Related forms
self-fe·lic·i·ta·tion, noun
15 August 2013
constitutional
[kon-sti-too-shuh-nl, -tyoo-]
adjective
1. of or pertaining to the constitution of a state, organization, etc.
2. subject to the provisions of such a constitution: a constitutional monarchy.
3. provided by, in accordance with, or not prohibited by, such a constitution: the constitutional powers of the president; a constitutional law.
4. belonging to or inherent in the character or makeup of a person’s body or mind: a constitutional weakness for sweets.
5. pertaining to the constitution or composition of a thing; essential.
6. beneficial to one’s constitution; healthful: constitutional exercise.
noun
7. a walk or other mild exercise taken for the benefit of one’s health: taking his morning constitutional.
14 August 2013
coquette
[koh-ket]
noun
1. a woman who flirts lightheartedly with men to win their admiration and affection; flirt.
verb (used without object)
2. to coquet.
Origin:
1605–15; < French, feminine of coquet
Related forms
co·quet·tish, adjective
Can be confused: coquette, croquet, croquette.
Synonyms
1. tease, vamp.
Usage note
See -ette.
13 August 2013
effete
[ih-feet]
adjective
1. lacking in wholesome vigor; degenerate; decadent: an effete, overrefined society.
2. exhausted of vigor or energy; worn out: an effete political force.
3. unable to produce; sterile.
Origin:
1615–25; < Latin effēta exhausted from bearing, equivalent to ef- ef- + fēta having brought forth, feminine past participle of lost v.; see fetus
Related forms
ef·fete·ly, adverb
ef·fete·ness, noun
non·ef·fete, adjective
non·ef·fete·ly, adverb
non·ef·fete·ness, noun
12 August 2013
cogitation
[koj-i-tey-shuhn]
noun
1. concerted thought or reflection; meditation; contemplation: After hours of cogitation he came up with a new proposal.
2. the faculty of thinking: She was a serious student and had a great power of cogitation.
3. a thought; design or plan: to jot down one’s cogitations.
Origin:
1175–1225; Middle English cogitaciun < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin cōgitātiōn- (stem of cōgitātiō ), equivalent to cōgitāt ( us ) (see cogitate) + -iōn- -ion
Related forms
pre·cog·i·ta·tion, noun
11 August 2013
anachronism
[uh-nak-ruh-niz-uhm]
noun
1. something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time: The sword is an anachronism in modern warfare.
2. an error in chronology in which a person, object, event, etc., is assigned a date or period other than the correct one: To assign Michelangelo to the 14th century is an anachronism.
Compare parachronism, prochronism.
Origin:
1640–50; < Latin anachronismus < Greek anachronismós a wrong time reference, equivalent to anachron ( ízein ) to make a wrong time reference (see ana-, chron-, -ize) + -ismos -ism
Related forms
an·a·chron·i·cal·ly [an-uh-kron-ik-lee] adverb
10 August 2013
putative
[pyoo-tuh-tiv]
adjective
– commonly regarded as such; reputed; supposed: the putative boss of the mob.
Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin putātīvus reputed, equivalent to putāt ( us ) (past participle of putāre to think, consider, reckon, orig. to clean, prune) + -īvus -ive
Related forms
pu·ta·tive·ly, adverb
un·pu·ta·tive, adjective
un·pu·ta·tive·ly, adverb
9 August 2013
bellygod
[BEL-ee god]
noun
– One who takes great pleasure in eating; a glutton.
ETYMOLOGY:
A bellygod is one who makes a god of his belly, i.e. a glutton. From Old English belig (bag) + god. Earliest documented use: 1540.
USAGE:
“Hudibras becomes the puritan bellygod par excellence:
Our knight did bear no less a pack
Of his own buttocks on his back.”
Kristen Poole; Radical Religion from Shakespeare to Milton; Cambridge University Press; 2000.
“The figure of Hercules [rebuked] Comus the belly-god for his ‘drunken orgies’ and addiction to swinish pleasure.”
Ian Donaldson; Ben Jonson: A Life; Oxford University Press; 2011.
8 August 2013
meed
[meed]
noun Archaic.
– a reward or recompense.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English mede, Old English mēd; cognate with German Miete hire; akin to Old English meord, Gothic mizdō, Greek misthós reward
USAGE:
‘And speaking of seats, the folding chairs were hideously uncomfortable — something like that fabled throne in Hades, which demanded a meed of blood and bone if you tried to leave it’.
– Craig Smith; Axelrod Quartet and NMSO; The Santa Fe New Mexican; Oct 17, 2003.
7 August 2013
scion
[sahy-uhn]
noun
1. a descendant.
2. Also, cion. a shoot or twig, especially one cut for grafting or planting; a cutting.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME shoot, twig < Old French cion < Frankish *kī- (compare Old English cīnan, Old Saxon kīnan, Old High German chīnan to sprout, Old English cīth, Old Saxon kīth sprout) + Old French -on noun suffix
Synonyms
1. child, issue, offshoot, progeny.
6 August 2013
noisome
noisome
[noi-suhm]
adjective
1. offensive or disgusting, as an odor, example: noisome stench.
2. harmful or injurious to health; noxious, example: noisome plants.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English noy (aphetic variant of annoy) + -some1
Related forms
noi·some·ly, adverb
noi·some·ness, noun
Synonyms
1. fetid, putrid, rotten, stinking, mephitic.
5 August 2013
lethologica
noun
– the state of being unable to remember the correct word or the word you want.
Example:
He was struck by lethologica at a critical moment in the debate, frustrating his ability to drive home the point.
4 August 2013
epanalepsis
[ep-uh-nuh-lep-sis]
noun Rhetoric .
– a repetition of a word or a phrase with intervening words setting off the repetition, sometimes occurring with a phrase used both at the beginning and end of a sentence, as in Only the poor really know what it is to suffer; only the poor.
Origin:
1575–85; < Greek epanálēpsis literally, resumption, taking up again, equivalent to ep- ep- + ana- ana- + lêpsis taking hold ( lēp-, variant stem of lambánein to take + -sis -sis)
Examples:
* The king is dead; long live the king.
* Severe to his servants, to his children severe.
* They bowed down to him rather, because he was all of these things, and then again he was all of these things because the town bowed down. —Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
* Beloved is mine; she is Beloved.
* Blow winds and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow! —Shakespeare, King Lear, 3.2.1
* Nice to see you, to see you, nice. —Bruce Forsyth
3 August 2013
anadiplosis
[an-uh-di-ploh-sis]
noun Rhetoric .
– repetition in the first part of a clause or sentence of a prominent word from the latter part of the preceding clause or sentence, usually with a change or extension of meaning.
Origin:
1580–90; < Latin < Greek, equivalent to anadiplō-, variant stem of anadiploûsthai to be doubled back + -sis -sis. See ana-, diplosis
Examples:
* “Turn the lights out now / Now, I’ll take you by the hand / Hand you another drink / Drink it if you can / Can you spend a little time / Time is slipping away / Away from us, so stay / Stay with me I can make / Make you glad you came “Glad You Came” by The Wanted
* “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” —Yoda, Star Wars
* “Strength through purity, purity through faith.” —Chancellor Adam Susan, V for Vendetta
* “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us.” —Romans 5:3–5
* “They call for you: The general who became a slave; the slave who became a gladiator; the gladiator who defied an Emperor. Striking story.” —Commodus, Gladiator (2000 film)
2 August 2013
polyptoton
[POL-ip-toe-tuhn]
(plural polyptota or polyptotons)
noun (rhetoric)
– A stylistic scheme in which words from the same root are used together, or a word is repeated in a different inflection or case.
Usage notes[edit]
An example of polyptoton appears in the following quote with variation on the word feed:
c1595, William Shakespeare, s:Richard II, act II, scene i,
‘With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder’.
Other examples:
“The Greeks are strong, and skillful to their strength, Fierce to their skill, and to their fierceness valiant;” William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida I, i, 7-8
“Not as a call to battle, though embattled we are.” John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961
“Who shall watch the watchmen themselves (Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?)?” Juvenal
1 August 2013
traduce
[truh-doos, -dyoos]
verb (used with object), tra·duced, tra·duc·ing.
– to speak maliciously and falsely of; slander; defame: to traduce someone’s character.
Origin:
1525–35; < Latin trādūcere, variant of trānsdūcere to transfer, display, expose, equivalent to trāns- trans- + dūcere to lead
Related forms
tra·duce·ment, noun
tra·duc·er, noun
tra·duc·ing·ly, adverb
un·tra·duced, adjective
Synonyms
vilify, decry, disparage.
Antonyms
praise.
