Word Of The Day

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NOCENT adjective (noh-suh nt)

adjective

1. harmful; injurious.
2. Archaic. guilty.


Quotes

Not yet in horrid shade or dismal den, / Nor nocent yet, but on the grassy herb / Fearless unfeared he slept.
--*John Milton,*Paradise Lost, 1667

He divides his treatise into 'bad and nocent books; bad books, but not nocent; books not bad, but nocent; books neither bad nor nocent.'
--*Isaac Disraeli,*Curiosities of Literature, Volume III, 1824



Origin

Nocent derives from Latin nocent-, the stem of nocēns, present participle of nocēre “to harm.” The widespread Proto-Indo-European root nek-, nok- underlies Latin nocēre and its derivatives noxa, noxia “harm, injury,” and the adjective noxius “harmful, noxious.” From the variant nek- Latin derives nex (stem nec-) “death, violent death, murder,” the root of the adjectives internecīnus and perniciōsus “ruinous, deadly, pernicious.” From nek- Greek derives nekrós “corpse, dead body,” and the source of the first element of necromancy (communication with the dead), necrophilia (***ual attraction to a corpse), and nectar (Greek néktar), the (red) drink of the Olympian gods, literally “overcoming death.” Nocent entered English in the 15th century.

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PERLOCUTIONARY adjective (pur-luh-kyoo-shuh-ner-ee)

adjective

1. Philosophy, Linguistics. (of a speech act) producing an effect upon the listener, as in persuading, frightening, amusing, or causing the listener to act.


Quotes

We can similarly distinguish the locutionary act 'he said that ...' from the illocutionary act 'he argued that ...' and the perlocutionary act 'he convinced me that ...'
--*J. L. Austin,*How to Do Things with Words, 1962

Artificial intelligence has left the orbit of computer science, and even science fiction, and become an abstract talking point. When people make use of it, especially powerful actors like Musk and Zuckerberg, it serves a perlocutionary function: as personal branding.
--*Ian Bogost,*"Why Zuckerberg and Musk Are Fighting About the Robot Future," The Atlantic, July 27, 2017



Origin

The noun perlocution has been in English since the end of the 16th century, originally meaning the act of speaking. The base of the word is the noun locution, which comes from Latin locūtiōn-, stem of the noun locūtiō “speech, speaking, discourse,” a derivative of the verb loquī “to speak.” The noun perlocūtiō does not exist in Latin; it is a very recent word, used in linguistics, formed with the Latin prefix (as a preposition, per means "through") per-, meaning “through, complete,” as in “pervade (to pass through), or perfect (brought to completion).” Perlocutionary entered English in the 20th century.

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DUCKY adjective (duhk-ee)

adjective

1. Informal. fine; excellent; wonderful.
2. Informal. darling; charming; cute.


Quotes

If you are looking for laughs you will find this one ducky ... !
--*Chick Coombs,*"Movies of the Month," Boys' Life, October 1961

It's a ducky place!
--*Hazel B. Stevens,*"Misfits," American Cookery, Volume XXIII, June–July 1918 to May 1919



Origin

Duck, as a term of endearment for a person, occurs as early as Shakespeare (1600). By the early 19th century in British English, duck applied to things, too, as “a duck of a bonnet (i.e., a cute bonnet).” By the late 19th century, duck was used to form the adjective ducky “cute, splendid, fine,” one of its current senses. Ducky entered English in the late 19th century.

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COLEOPTERON noun (koh-lee-op-ter-uh n)

noun
1. a coleopterous insect; a beetle.


Quotes

His bag consisted of two cryptophagi and a coleopteron ...
--*Vere Monro,*A Summer Ramble in Syria, Volume II, 1835

I discovered a Coleopteron the other day that smelt so very strong of musk that I could hardly come near the box that it was in.
--*"Gilbert White to Joseph Banks, Esq., April 21, 1768," Nature Notes, Volume 19, 1908



Origin

The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 b.c.) coined the adjective koleópteros “sheath-winged” (describing beetles) in his Historia Animalium. Koleópteros is a compound adjective formed from the noun koleós “sheath” and -pteros, a derivative of pterón “wing.” The Proto-Indo-European root kel-, kol- “to hide, conceal” underlies Greek koleós, English hell (from Germanic haljō, literally “the hidden place”), and Latin cēlāre “to hide.” The Proto-Indo-European root pet-, pot-, pt- “to fly rush” is the ultimate source of Greek pterón, Latin penna “feather” (from unattested petna), source of English pen, and Germanic (English) feather (from Germanic fethrō). Coleoptera entered English in the 18th century.

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CRUCIVERBALIST noun (kroo-suh-vur-buh-list)

noun

1. a designer or aficionado of crossword puzzles.


Quotes

In crossword parlance, you are either a solver or a “constructor” (or, if you're in a four****-letter mood, a “cruciverbalist&rdquo, though many people at the tournament had dabbled in both.
--*Michael Schulman,*"Solvers," The New Yorker, March 15, 2010

Making a crossword puzzle isn't easy: crossword puzzle makers, or cruciverbalists, have to follow strict rules in building their brain teasers.
--*Danny Lewis,*"Plagiarism Scandal Checkers the World of Crossword Puzzles," Smithsonian.com, March 8, 2016



Origin

Cruciverbalist is a Latin translation of English crossword. Cruci- is the combining form of the Latin noun crux “cross,” as in cruciform or crucifix; verbalist means someone who is skilled in using words or who is more interested in words than in ideas or reality. Cruciverbalist entered English in the 20th century.

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RAPPROCHEMENT noun (rap-rohsh-mahn)

noun

1. an establishment or reestablishment of harmonious relations: a rapprochement reached between warring factions.


Quotes

In May a Franco-German Committee of Socialist deputies, including Jaurès and Hugo Haase, met at Basel to discuss measures for rapprochement between their countries.
--*Barbara W. Tuchman,*The Proud Tower, 1962

He, too, barely spoke to Charles for decades but gradually underwent a rapprochement with his twin, David.
--*Jane Mayer,*Dark Money, 2016



Origin

English rapprochement comes directly from modern French rapprochement “reconciliation, understanding,” dates only from the end of the 18th century, and is still unnaturalized, as one can tell from its more or less French pronunciation. The underlying French word is the verb approcher (Old French aprochier) “to approach,” which English adopted in the 14th century. The English spelling approach has given rise to two nonstandard spellings of rapprochement: rapproachement and rapproachment. Rapprochement entered English in the late 18th century.

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DEADWOOD noun (ded-woo d)

noun

1. (in writing) unnecessary words, phrases, or exposition; expendable verbiage.
2. the dead branches on a tree; dead branches or trees.
3. useless or burdensome persons or things: He cut the deadwood from his staff.
4. Nautical. a solid construction, serving only as reinforcement, located between the keel of a vessel and the stem or sternpost.
5. Bowling. pins remaining on the alley after having been knocked down by the ball.
6. Cards. a. Rummy. cards in a hand that have not been included in sets and are usually counted as points against the holder. b. Poker. cards that have been discarded.


Quotes

Well-chosen words add to the meaning and power of your essays; deadwood or clutter, as some editors call wasted words, gets in the way.
--*Phillip Eggers,*Process and Practice with Multicultural Readings, 1997

Learn to recognize deadwood. For example, rather than simply writing because, since, or if, some students feel compelled to clutter their sentences with empty phrases. Here are some common [ones] ...: by virtue of the fact that; due to the fact that; for the simple reason that; inasmuch as; in light of the fact that ...
--*Luis A. Nazario, Deborah D. Borchers, William F. Lewis,*Bridges to Better Writing, 2010



Origin

Deadwood was first recorded in the 1720s. It’s a combination of the words dead and

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SAWBONES noun (saw-bohnz)

noun

1. Slang. a surgeon or physician.


Quotes

"There's a couple o' sawbones downstairs." "A couple of what!" exclaimed Mr. PIckwick, sitting up in bed. "A couple o' sawbones," said Sam. ... "I thought everybody know'd as a sawbones was a surgeon."
--*Charles Dickens,*The Pickwick Papers, 1837

My wife complains of a pain in her hip and a swelling there, so in the end I send for a sawbones, one Daniel Behenna, who has the reputation of being an acceptable member of his useless profession.
--*Winston Graham,*Bella Poldark, 2002



Origin

The etymology of sawbones is appallingly familiar to anyone who has seen photos from the Civil War or Gone with the Wind. The word is relatively modern, first appearing in Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers (1837).

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PRETA noun (prey-tuh)

noun

1. Hindu Mythology. a wandering or disturbed ghost.


Quotes

It hurtled down upon us, wanting to hurt us, as if we were horrid abominations it hungered to kill; as if the cloud truly was a hungry ghost, a preta.
--*James Alan Gardner,*Radiant, 2004

The boy's expression was that of a preta, unburied at death.
--*Kim Stanley Robinson,*The Years of Rice and Salt, 2002



Origin

In Sanskrit e is a long vowel (it is also transliterated as ē). Hindi grammarians correctly analyzed e as a monophthong replacing an earlier diphthong ai; thus the Sanskrit adjective preta “gone before, deceased” is from an earlier form, praita, formed from the adverb and prefix pra- “forth” and -ita “gone.” Pra- is cognate with the Latin prepositions prō and prae (and prefixes pro- and prae-) and the Greek preposition pró (and prefix pro-), all of them meaning “before, in front of.” The Sanskrit participle ita- corresponds exactly in form with Latin itum, past participle of the verb īre “to go” and the Greek verbal adjective itós “passable,” all from the Proto-Indo-European root ei-, i- “to go.” Preta entered English in the early 19th century.

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GUISARD noun (gahy-zerd)

noun

1. a person who wears a mask; mummer.


Quotes

"I'm gaun to turn mysel' intil a guisard." He picked up the thing he had been carrying and revealed it as a cloak of deerskins which fitted like a loose jerkin. Over his head he drew a cap of skin with slits for his eyes, a roughly shaped nozzle like a deer's, and on the top the horns of a goat.
--*John Buchan,*Witch Wood, 1927

The guisard performances are not extinct, but they have fallen so far into decay, comparatively, that we look upon them with a sort of fond regret, murmuring, "Pars magna fui," or, "In them we acted great parts."
--*"Yule and Hogmanay," Hogg's Weekly Instructor, Volume VI, September 1847 to February 1848



Origin

Guisard is a Scottish and North English word. The first part of the word, guise, in Scotland and northern England means "to appear or go in disguise." The suffix -ard, occasionally spelled -art, is now used mostly in a pejorative sense for someone who does something habitually or excessively, e.g., drunkard, braggart. Guisard entered English in the 17th century.