word of the day
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Word of the Day: Epimythium
(n.); the moral appended to the end a story or fable; from the Greek epi (“upon”) + muthos (“story, fable”) “Once upon a time there was a princess who went out into the forest and sat down at the edge…
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Word of the Day: Venatic
(adj.); of or relating to hunting; fond of hunting, whether for sport or livelihood; from the Latin venari (“to hunt”) “Love her or hate her, Banksy is putting herself at the intersection of the street and the art world. Why…
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Word of the Day: Vaticinate
(v.); to prophesy or foretell the future; from the Latin vati– (“seer”) + -cin-, combining form of canere (“to sing, prophesy”) “Louisiana, Louisiana, They’re tryin’ to wash us away. They’re tryin’ to wash us away.” —Randy Newman, from “Louisiana 1927.”…
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Word of the Day: Pneumatophony
(n.); the utterance of articulate sounds by a ghost or a spirit “Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. He’s gotta pick this one. He’s got to. I don’t…
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Word of the Day: Periculous
(adj.); dangerous or full of peril; from the latin periculum (“an attempt, risk”) I’m normal. I live in a nice apartment. I think one thing [guys like Burroughs] didn’t have that I have is the Internet. The Internet is the…
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Word of the Day: Dépaysé
(adj.); out of one’s element; situated in unfamiliar surroundings; from the Old French despaisier (to exile) As a species, we’ve somehow survived large and small ice ages, genetic bottlenecks, plagues, world wars, and all manner of natural disasters, but I…
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Word of the Day: Horometry
(n.); the art, practice, or method of measuring time by hours and subordinate divisions; the art or science of measuring time; from the Greek hora (“time” or “season”) + metron (“measure”) With them who stood upon the brink of the…
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Word of the Day: Flosculation
(n); an embellishment or ornament in speech; to speak in flowery language; c. 1651 Trouble. Trouble is a great dustpan of a word. Its roots are found in Latin in the verb turbidare, to make turbid … Trouble branched off…
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Word of the Day: Woofits
(n.); an unwell feeling, particularly in the head; a moody depression; c. 1918, from Nevil Shute’s The Rose and the Rainbow The archetype of the mad genius dates back to at least classical times, when Aristotle noted, “Those who have…
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Word of the Day: Atelier
(n.); artist’s studio or workshop; c. 1840, from the old French astelier (“carpenter’s workshop, woodpile”) “Part of what I loved about poetry was how the distinction between fiction and nonfiction didn’t obtain,” [Lerner] says, “how the correspondence between text and…
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Word of the Day: Agastopia
(n.); admiration of a particular part of the body ALS constitutes progressive imprisonment without parole. First you lose the use of a digit or two; then a limb; then and almost inevitably, all four. —Tony Judt, Night The human body…
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Word of the Day: Eidolism
(n.); belief in ghosts; etymology difficult to trace, but typically attributed to the Greek eidolon (“image, apparition, phantom, ghost”) There was something else in the house, unmentioned and unlabelled. A sort of shadowy presence that hovered by the back door.…