word of the day
-
Word of the Day: Virago
(n.); manlike or heroic woman; a woman of extraordinary stature, strength and courage; a domineering, violent or bad-tempered woman “I would also observe that it is, potentially, culturally catastrophic to have the ephemera of a previous century squatting possessively on…
-
Word of the Day: Mundificative
(n.); a cleansing medicine or preparation; (adj.) able to cleanse, especially a wound “Art begins in a wound, an imperfection—a wound inherent in the nature of life itself—and is an attempt either to live with the wound or to heal…
-
Word of the Day: Froward
(adj.); willfully contrary; not easily managed; rebellious; from Middle English “Vowel sounds work like those sliding puzzle games where you have to unscramble a picture by sliding one piece of it at a time. As soon as you move one…
-
Word of the Day: Oblivescence
(n.); the process of forgetting; “Curiously enough, one cannot read a book: one can only reread it. When we read a book for the first time, the very process of laboriously moving our eyes from left to right, line after…
-
Word of the Day: Amphigory
(n.); a nonsense verse; specifically, a poem designed to look and sound good, but which has no meaning upon closer reading; from the French amphigouri. “Just imagine a typeface that could inspire empathy inherently based on the softness of a…
-
Word of the Day: Vergence
(n.); simultaneous movement of eyes toward or away from one another; c. 1902 in ophthalmology “Some days I can move the mower slowly, along lazy paths. … On other days, when rain beckons and the grass looks nearly knee-high, I…
-
Word of the Day: Quiddity
(n.); the essence or inherent nature of a person or thing; an eccentricity; an odd feature; a trifle, nicety or quibble; from the Latin quid (“what”) “He was friendly, polite, and deeply interested in even the fine points I raised,…
-
Word of the Day: Nesh
(n.); soft, delicate, tender; from the Old English hnesce (“soft in texture”) or Gothic hnasqus (“tender; soft”) “Over the years, I’ve gone back and forth over the merits of print versus digital books so many times, it’s as if I…
-
Word of the Day: Miasma
(n.); noxious exhalations from putrid organic matter; poisonous effluvia or germs polluting the atmosphere; a dangerous, foreboding, or deathlike influence or atmosphere “If the Internet is a bridge to the greater world, a troll is the beast who lives under…
-
Word of the Day: Eschaton
(n.); the last thing, as a theological reference to the climax of history at Judgment Day; the day at the end of time following Armageddon when God will decree the fates of all human beings; from the ancient Greek eskhatos…
-
Word of the Day: Cardialgia
(n.); pain near or in the heart; suffering from or exhibiting overwhelming sorrow, grief or disappointment, particularly due to romantic love; heartburn “Deadly grief is not about stress alone, scientists say. It shines a light on the physiological bonds of…
-
Word of the Day: Refection
(n.); nourishment; refreshment by food or drink; a meal, especially a light one; refreshment of the mind, spirit or body “A cognitive scientist and a German philosopher walk in the woods and come across a tree in bloom: What does…