Word Of The Day

[Ian Smith]

Another essential key to building a healthy, intellectual lifestyle is having a strong, well-rounded vocabulary. We express ourselves in many ways, speaking to one another is one of the most common.

One Word A Day.

[Ian Smith]

12/9/07.

Rapprochement - rap-rosh-MAWN - noun:
The establishment or state of cordial relations.

Examples of proper usage:

Mikhail Gorbachev and his team of self-described reformers were publicly heralding a new era of rapprochement with the West.
-- Ken Alibek with Stephen Handelman, Biohazard

The documentary record of initial White House-level efforts to initiate rapprochement with China . . . remains slim.
-- William Burr, The Kissinger Transcripts

But I have no desire for some kissy rapprochement.
-- Zoë Heller, Everything You Know


Rapprochement comes from the French, from rapprocher, "to bring nearer," from Middle French, from re- + approcher, "to approach," from Old French aprochier, from Late Latin appropire, from Latin ad- + propius, "nearer," comparative of prope, "near."

[Nicholas Fahrenheit]

Can we all submit one word a day? coz thatd be better.

[Patrick Laffey]

awesome. i wanted to do this but i forgot. i hope you update it


PS.

for homework, use the word of the day at least once during the day to help you remember it

[Ian Smith]

12/10/07.

Perspicacity - pur-spuh-KAS-uh-tee - noun:
Clearness of understanding or insight; penetration, discernment.

Examples of proper usage:

His predictions over the years have mixed unusual aristocratic insight with devastating perspicacity.
-- "Why fine titles make exceedingly fine writers", Independent, November 3, 1996

Doubtless these thumbnail sketches, like everything else Stendhal wrote, were intended ultimately to relate to his own notion of himself as a creature of invincible perspicacity and sophistication.
-- Jonathan Keates, Stendhal


Perspicacity comes from Latin perspicax, perspicac-, "sharp-sighted," from perspicere, "to look through," from per, "through" + specere, "to look."


(yes, anyone can post them, please follow the format)

[Ian Smith]

12/11/07.

artifice - AR-tuh-fis - noun:
1. Cleverness or skill; ingenuity; inventiveness.
2. An ingenious or artful device or expedient.
3. An artful trick or stratagem.
4. Trickery; craftiness; insincere or deceptive behavior.

Examples of proper usage:

Built by design and artifice, it fell apart in confusion and chaos.
-- John Gray, False Dawn

This theatricality is necessary to signal Prospero's farewell to magic, and indeed the play debates that very contrast between artifice and reality, illusion and truth.
-- Amy Rosenthal, "An insubstantial pageant", New Statesman, February 3, 2003

The smoke had cleared enough for him to see bayonets flash in the distance, behind the wall, what looked like thousands of them, the wall itself appearing to rise out of the smoke as if produced by the artifice of some magician.
-- Kathleen Cambor, In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden

The intuitive connection children feel with animals can be a tremendous source of joy. The unconditional love received from pets, and the lack of artifice in the relationship, contrast sharply with the much trickier dealings with members of their own species.
-- Frans De Waal, The Ape and the Sushi Master


Artifice comes from artificium, from artifex, artific-, "artificer, craftsman," from Latin ars, art-, "art" + facere, "to make." It is related to artificial.

[Ian Smith]

12/12/07.

dishabille - dis-uh-BEEL - noun:

1. The state of being carelessly or partially dressed.
2. Casual or lounging attire.
3. An intentionally careless or casual manner.

Examples of proper usage:

People meant to be fully clothed lounge around in dishabille.
-- John Simon, "Tangled Up in Blue", New York Magazine, March 26, 2001

But, unlike the Black Knights, Princeton . . . was in varying states of dishabille -- some players in warmups, some in uniform, some halfway between.
-- Daily Princetonian, December 13, 2000

She was dressed, that is to say, in dishabille, wrapped in a long, warm dressing-gown.
-- Alexandre Dumas, Twenty Years After

She imagines the shocked faces of Josiah or her father or her mother were any of them to come around the corner and catch her in her dishabille.
-- Anita Shreve, Fortune's Rocks



Dishabille comes from French déshabiller, "to undress," from dés-, "dis-" + habiller, "to clothe, to dress."

[hozgod]

freerice.com : expand the vocab, feed the hungry.

[Sean]

12/13/07.

cacophony - kuh-KAH-fuh-nee - noun:

1. Harsh or discordant sound; dissonance.
2. The use of harsh or discordant sounds in literary composition.

Examples of proper usage:

New York was then a cacophony of sounds -- a dozen accents ricocheting off surrounding buildings as immigrant mothers called their children home for supper, noon whistles blowing, vendors hawking their wares on the streets, children shouting, horses whinnying, and people yelling.
-- Herbert G. Goldman, Banjo Eyes

The mammoth central station towered over the platforms, and with the cacophony from whooshing steam, shrill whistles, shouts and the heaving of hand and horse carts, not only was it the biggest, noisiest, most confusing experience any of them had ever encountered, but the city was almost unimaginable.
-- Christopher Ogden, Legacy: A Biography of Moses and Walter Annenberg



Cacophony comes from Greek kakophonia, from kakophonos, from kakos, "bad" + phone, "sound." The adjective form is cacophonous. The opposite of cacophony is euphony.

[Zthirtytwo]

I just want to note learning one word every day for a couple months and being instituted into your vocabulary will make you seem imensly more literate and cultured to anyone you speak to.

[Ian Smith]

12/20/07.

tocsin - TOCK-sin - noun:

1. An alarm bell, or the ringing of a bell for the purpose of alarm.
2. A warning.

Examples of proper usage:

Some of the allegations put round are so frenzied, however, that some caution should be exercised before the tocsin is rung too loudly.
-- "New President of the NUS", Times (London), April 10, 1969

The first atomic bomb fell and its radioactive cloud became a tocsin for mankind.
-- Herbert Mitgang, "The Bomb as Horror and Warning", New York Times, August 1, 1990

But Mr. Beckett is wise in choosing the form of the myth in which to sound his tocsin on the condition of human society.
-- Brooks Atkinson, "Beckett's 'Endgame'", New York Times, January 29, 1958



Tocsin derives from Medieval French touquesain, from Old Provençal tocasenh, from tocar, "to touch, to strike, to ring a bell" + senh, "church bell," ultimately from Latin signum, "sign, signal."

[Ian Smith]

1/10/08.

Jetsam (noun)

Pronunciation: ['jet-sêm]

Definition: Cargo thrown out of a ship or plane to lighten it.

Usage: In maritime law, "flotsam" refers to the remains of a shipwreck while "jetsam" refers to cargo or other material cast overboard. The two, however, are used in conjunction with each other today (flotsam and jetsam) to refer to any collection of random, useless objects.

Suggested Usage: Think of jetsam in its new sense as something of no value thrown out for whatever reason: "When the economy dipped, the company threw out employees like so much jetsam rather than bailing itself out at the banks." However, today's word is used most often after its phrasemate, "flotsam," "Hermione spends her evenings with the human flotsam and jetsam milling about the local gin joints."

Etymology: In Middle English today's word was jetteson "the act of throwing cargo overboard to lighten a ship," today's "jettison." This word comes from Anglo-Norman getteson, descended from Vulgar Latin "*iectatio(n)," the noun from *iectare "to throw." The root of this word is found in many English borrowings from Latin: "eject," "subject," "adjacent," "jet," and "jetty." "Jettison" itself also originally referred to that which is cast off a ship but, in this sense, it underwent further corruption to "jetsam," as in today's "flotsam and jetsam." (We are happy that Bob Jochums, Pharm.D. of Atlanta, Georgia, didn't jettison this word but sailed it over to us for today.)

–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com

[tonatiuh8]

debonair

1 : suave, urbane

2 : lighthearted, nonchalant

Example Sentence:
David, a handsome and debonair bachelor, is a much sought-after guest for dinner parties.
Did you know?
In Anglo-French, someone who was genteel and well-brought-up was described as "deboneire" -- literally "of good family or nature" (from three words: "de bon aire"). When the word was borrowed into English in the 13th century, it basically meant "courteous," a narrow sense now pretty much obsolete. Today's "debonair" incorporates charm, polish, and worldliness, often combined with a carefree attitude (think James Bond). And yes, we tend to use this sense mostly, though not exclusively, of men. In the 19th century, we took the "carefree" part and made it a sense all its own. "The crowd that throngs the wharf as the steamer draws alongside is gay and debonair; it is a noisy, cheerful, gesticulating crowd," wrote Somerset Maugham in 1919 in his novel The Moon and Sixpence.

[tonatiuh8]

Hapless

Adjective
unlucky; luckless; unfortunate.

deserving or inciting pity; "a hapless victim"; "miserable victims of war"; "the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic"- Galsworthy; "piteous appeals for help"; "pitiable homeless children"; "a pitiful fate"; "Oh, you poor thing"; "his poor distorted limbs"; "a wretched life"

[Sloaner92]

I have some fun words from my vocab book for this unit that I'll put up when I get a chance.

[tonatiuh8]

audacious

Adjective

1 : daring, bold

2 : insolent

*3 : marked by originality and verve

Example Sentence:
The band has been making original and creative music for well over ten years, but their latest album is by far their most audacious to date.

[Elyts]

CREPUSCULAR

adjective

1. relating or resembling twilight
2. dim

example sentence: The night's crepuscular charm reminded me of you.

[tonatiuh8]

flocculate


: to aggregate or coalesce into small lumps or loose clusters

Example Sentence:
During fermentation, yeast cells flocculate and either rise to the top or sink to the bottom of the vat.

[tonatiuh8]

Wanton
-Adjective

1. done, shown, used, etc., maliciously or unjustifiably: a wanton attack; wanton cruelty.
2. deliberate and without motive or provocation; uncalled-for; headstrong; willful: Why jeopardize your career in such a wanton way?
3. without regard for what is right, just, humane, etc.; careless; reckless: a wanton attacker of religious convictions.
4. sexually lawless or unrestrained; loose; lascivious; lewd: wanton behavior.
5. extravagantly or excessively luxurious, as a person, manner of living, or style.
6. luxuriant, as vegetation.
7. Archaic.
a. sportive or frolicsome, as children or young animals.
b. having free play: wanton breezes; a wanton brook.
–noun
8. a wanton or lascivious person, esp. a woman.
–verb (used without object)
9. to behave in a wanton manner; become wanton.
–verb (used with object)
10. to squander, esp. in pleasure (often fol. by away): to wanton away one's inheritance.

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[Elyts]

triskaidekaphobia
- noun

simply: the fear of Friday the 13th

[Sloaner92]

Originally Posted by Elyts

triskaidekaphobia
- noun

simply: the fear of Friday the 13th

I believe it's actually fear of the number 13. Which I don't fear anymore (got my license on 3/13, a Friday; called to window number 13; given ticket number 31 for my car; passed by some strange twist of fate!).

[Elyts]

it was originally that, but its been adapted to be the supersticious fear of Friday the thirteenth now...but i suppose it has two meanings

[BestStyle]

Belie; verb

A false impression of, to contradict