Word Of The Day

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FLOCCULENT adjective (flok-yuh-luh nt)


adjective

1. like a clump or tuft of wool.
2. covered with a soft, woolly substance.
3. consisting of or containing loose woolly masses.
4. flocky.
5. Chemistry. consisting of flocs and floccules.


Quotes

The night was overcast, and through the flocculent grey of the heaped clouds there filtered a faint half-light of dawn.
--*H. G. Wells,*"The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham," The Idler, Volume IX, February to July, 1896


A September night, with the stars shining, and the plane-trees in the Square floating like flocculent dark clouds across the brilliant firmament of the Imperial Hotel.
--*Warwick Deeping,*Roper's Row, 1929



Origin

There is no Latin adjective flocculentus, but the English adjective flocculent is formed from Latin elements: the noun floccus “tuft of wool” (of unknown etymology) and, by extension, “something insignificant,” and the adjective suffix -ulentus “full of, abundant in.” Latin floccus is the source of English flock (tuft of wool or cloth), flocking (fine, powdered wool or cloth for decorating wallpaper), and flocked (e.g., wallpaper). Flocculent entered English at the end of the 18th century.

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DAILY-BREADER noun (dey-lee-bred-er)

noun

1. British. a commuter.


Quotes

The daily-breader, the journeyman, might envy this tortured dignitary his title, his chain, his rank at Court, this important office, to which he had climbed so pertinaciously, only to wear himself out in it ...
--*Thomas Mann,*Royal Highness, translated by A. Cecil Curtis, 1916


They seemed to insist upon his being but a mere "daily breader," who was trudging home to snatch a few hours' sleep before hurrying off to catch the train to his work.
--*Horace W. C. Newte,*The Square Mile: A Story of Ways and Means, 1908



Origin

Daily-breader suggests “daily bread,” the English translation of Latin panem… quotidiānum of the Lord’s Prayer (Pater noster) in the gospels of Matt. 6:11 and Luke 11:3. Daily-breader entered English in the 19th century.

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FACEPALM verb (feys-pahm)

verb

1. the gesture of placing the palm of one's hand across the face, as to express embarrassment, frustration, disbelief, etc. (often used as an interjection): She read the post and comments and did a facepalm. Okay, that was dumb—facepalm!

2. to use this gesture to express such emotions.



Quotes

Easily one of the biggest facepalms of the year occurred at the Oscars, when the wrong movie was announced for Best Picture.
--*"The Biggest Facepalm Moments of 2017," Entrepreneur, December 1, 2017


... the ambassador's facepalm was fodder for body language analysts.
--*"Trump's first trip: From 'Glum Pope' to tough talk," BBC, May 26, 2017



Origin

Facepalm was first recorded between 2000-05. It very literally combines the words face and palm.

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BRUMAL adjective (broo-muh l)

adjective

1. wintry.


Quotes

" 'Tis a brumal Night, for behold, it sweepeth by," announces Squire Haligast from the shadows ...
--*Thomas Pynchon,*Mason & Dixon, 1997


There came a howling brumal day that a half-frozen young Man rode through the flinging snow and into the bailey.
--*Dennis L. McKiernan,*Dragondoom, 1990



Origin

The English adjective brumal ultimately derives from the Latin adjective brūmālis (the noun diēs “day” is understood) “pertaining to the winter solstice; the winter solstice.” Brūmālis is a derivative of the noun brūma “the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice,” from earlier breuma and brevima, formed from the adjective brevis “short” and an archaic form of the more usual superlative ending -issima. Brumal entered English in the 16th century.

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ABUBBLE adjective (uh-buhb-uh l)

adjective

1. characterized by intense enthusiasm or activity: The store was abubble with last-minute shoppers.
2. bubbling, as while cooking or boiling.


Quotes

Suddenly Piggy was a-bubble with decorous excitement.
--*William Golding,*Lord of the Flies, 1954


He'd got the idea for the quartet that he was never to finish, and he was enchanted, abubble with enthusiasm ...
--*Joan Brady,*Death Comes for Peter Pan, 1996



Origin

There are English adjectives that, like abubble, can be used only in the predicate and not as attributives, such as aglow and asleep: one can say “The baby is asleep,” but not “the asleep baby.” These predicative adjectives are in origin noun phrases consisting of the preposition on governing a following noun, which also explains why predicate adjectives show no degree of comparison (e.g., asleeper, asleepest) and cannot be modified by adverbs (e.g., “The baby is extremely asleep”). Abubble entered English in the 18th century.

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BLITHERSOME adjective (blahyth-suh m)

adjective

1. lighthearted; merry; cheerful: a blithesome nature.


Quotes

Then came the merry maskers in, / And carols roared with blithesome din; / If unmelodious was the song / It was a hearty note and strong.
--*Sir Walter Scott,*Marmion, 1808


Hearing it for the first time ignited a heady rush of blithesome memories and emotions I'd not recalled or felt in years.
--*Robin Hilton,*"First Listen: 'Muppets: The Green Album'," NPR, August 14, 2011



Origin

Blithesome is a much less common, somewhat affected synonym of blithe. Blithe dates back to Old English, appearing in the poems of Cynewulf, who lived probably in the 9th century. Blithesome dates from the 18th century.

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PROPINE noun (proh-peen)

noun

1. Scot. to offer as a present.
verb

1. Scot. a present; gift.


Quotes

A rich present they did to her propine / A costly cup, that large thing would contain.
--*William Dunbar,*"The Queen's Reception at Aberdeen," 1511


... he made them great banquetting and merriness; and also propined them with great gifts, that he might the better pacify their wrath towards him, and obtain their favour.
--*C. J. Lyon,*History of St. Andrews, Episcopal, Monastic, Academic, and Civil, 1843



Origin

The English verb and noun propine comes via French from the Latin verb propīnāre “to drink to one’s health, pledge one’s health.” Considering the convivial and colloquial meaning of propīnāre, it is not surprising that it first occurs in the comedies of Plautus (c254–c184 b.c.) and Terence (c190–159? b.c.). Greek supplies many colloquial, even casual words to Latin in addition to learned and technical vocabulary, and propīnāre is one of them. It is a direct borrowing of Greek propī́nein, literally “to drink first, drink up, drink to one’s health, pledge one’s health” (as in Latin). Propine entered English in the 15th century.

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YULE noun (yool)

noun

1. Christmas, or the Christmas season.


Quotes

They bring me sorrow touch'd with joy, / The merry merry bells of Yule.
--*Alfred Tennyson,*In Memoriam, 1850


Yule, Karácson, or Christmas, all is the same, if we imitate our ancestors today in one thing; if by laughter, good cheer, and presents we drive off the modern devils called blue and make ourselves happy through the happiness we induce in others.
--*"Why Yule?" New York Times, December 25, 1887



Origin

The English were converted to Christianity centuries before the Norse (Danes, Swedes, Norwegians), and in Old English geōl (earlier geohol) and geōl(a) mean “Christmas day, the twelve days of Christmas, Christmastide.” Old English maintains the phrases se ǽrra geōla (“the earlier Yule”) and se æftera geōla (“the later Yule”) for December and January, respectively. Old English geōl and its other forms corresponds exactly to Old Norse (Icelandic) jόl, the name of the pagan winter feast lasting 12 days, later applied to Christmas. Yule entered English before 900.

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AFTERGLOW noun (af-ter-gloh)

noun

1. the pleasant remembrance of a past experience, glory, etc.: She basked in the afterglow of her stage triumph.
2. the glow frequently seen in the sky after sunset; afterlight.
3. a second or secondary glow, as in heated metal before it ceases to become incandescent.
4. phosphorescence.


Quotes

He sat gazing incredulously at the face of his wife, on which the afterglow of her laugh still enchantingly lingered.
--*Edith Wharton,*The Buccaneers, 1938


That was when you found out what a man was really like, in the afterglow of dinner, when he was digesting ...
--*T. C. Boyle,*"What Separates Us from the Animals," Harper's, October 2010



Origin

Afterglow was first recorded in the 1870s.

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PINGUID adjective (ping-gwid)

adjective

1. fat; oily.


Quotes

He is a mighty mass of pinguid bronze, with a fat lisp, and a broad sunflower smile, and he lectures us with a vast and genial breadth of manner on the ruins, contradicting all our guesses at things with a sweet "Perdoni, signori! ma---."
--*William Dean Howells,*Italian Journeys, 1867


What did his consuming of that inordinately pinguid sandwich mean?
--*Henry Roth,*A Diving Rock on the Hudson, 1995



Origin

The Latin adjective pinguis means “fat, fertile, plump, in good condition” and by extension “heavy, dull, gross, stupid.” The English adjective pinguid may derive from Medieval Latin pinguidus (with the same meaning as pinguis), or it may derive from pingu- (the stem of pinguis) and the suffix -id, as in fetid, humid, and pallid. Pinguid entered English in the 17th century.