Word gnomon [n. NO-mun] The gnomon of a sundial is the part that sticks up and casts a shadow,
showing what time it is. More generally, a gnomon is any kind of pointer
that indicates a value by casting a shadow. Another kind of gnomon is the
shape left behind by removing a parallelogram (diamond) from a larger parallelogram
with which it shares a corner. The two meanings are related because the
shape of a sundial gnomon is often like a diamond with a smaller diamond
taken out. The word comes through Latin, from the Greek gignoskein (to
know). That root gave us many "knowing" words, including these: gnosis:
intuitive knowing of esoteric truths agnostic: one who claims not to know
agnosia: inability to interpret sensory inputs (inability to know) diagnosis:
identification, interpretation, or description bloviate [v. BLOW-vee-ayt] To bloviate is to speak loudly, verbosely, and at great length,
without saying much. It's an American word that was used by (and to describe)
President Warren Harding, who was known for long, windy speeches. To bloviate
is to engage in bloviation [n. blow-vee-AY- shun]. In the early nineteenth
century, it was fashionable to create "latinized" words by adding Latin
endings to ordinary words, giving them an enhanced sense of importance
or formality. From blow (brag, boast) was created bloviate, to describe
the extended, self-important speeches of certain political figures. This
word has gone in and out of fashion several times after mostly vanishing
for the first half of the twentieth century. It is not found in most dictionaries,
but is now heard again in the political arena, where such a word may live
for years to come. fore [interj., adj. FOR] When you're golfing, it's wise to watch out when you hear somebody
yell "Fore!" It means there's a golf ball headed your way. The adjective
sense of this word describes something that is located up ahead or toward
the front, as in the nautical opposites, fore and aft. In every case, the
word is short for before. It's originally from the ancient root per, which
led to a wide variety of words about distance, direction, importance, and
temporal sequence. These words include for, far, first, forth, former,
from, proton, furnish, approach, probe, prove, private, and prime. The
golf warning came out of British military terminology. When troops were
lined up for battle, the ranks would fire in sequence. When a line behind
was to shoot, the commander would yell out "'ware before!." On hearing
this, it was smart to kneel down if you were in front. warp and woof The warp and woof of something is its underlying structure, the
base or foundation of its being. Example: "The great masses of individual
consumers form the warp and woof of the American economy." Although this
expression dates back only to the 1800s, the two words of which it is made
are very ancient, and both come from one of humanity's most ancient practices:
weaving. In fact, it was in the textile industry that the words came together
as a popular expression. The warp of a woven fabric is the yarn or thread
that runs along the length of the fabric. The word is from Old English
wearpan (to throw away), from an ancient root that also gave us reverberate,
verbena, and rhombus. The woof of a fabric is the fiber that runs across
the fabric. The word is from Middle English oof, from Old English wefan
(to weave), from an ancient root that was also the source of weave, web,
weevil, wafer, waffle, wave, and wobble. deasil [adj. DEE-zul] Something that rotates clockwise is moving deasil, the direction
of the sun's path around the sky in the northern hemisphere. Example: "As
part of the midnight ritual, we were required to march deasil around the
altar three times." This rare word is the opposite of widdershins [adj.
WID-ur-shinz], a more common word that means counterclockwise. Both words
are derived from Gaelic. Deasil is related to the Latin dexter (right,
rightward), while widdershins is a compound of Old High German widar (back,
again) and sinnes (in the direction of). The Latin dexter carried a sense
of goodness and skillfulness, which is preserved in Modern English dextrous.
In the Wicca tradition of witchcraft, which still uses both of the old
rotation words, deasil movement is thought to be good and positive, while
widdershins movement invokes dark, negative qualities. Another Cool Word
from the root dexter http://www.cool-word.com/archive/1999/03/15.html bower [n. BOU-ur] A bower is usually a shady, leafy recess, like a little garden nook
with green foliage all around. It can also be a woman's private chamber
in a medieval castle or a rustic country cottage. All three senses of this
word came from the same root, Middle English bour (dwelling), from Old
English bur, from the ancient Germanic root *buram (dweller; farmer). Also
from that root was Old English gebur (dwellers), source of neighbor, and
Middle Dutch gheboer (peasant), source of boor. Much more recently, we
have bowery, which originally named a sleazy district in New York City
and now can refer to any rough, dangerous part of town. It's from New York's
Bowery Street, which once led to the bouwerij (farm) of Peter Stuyvesant.
Australia's bower birds build leafy nests to attract their mates http://www.wnet.org/nature/bowerbird/index.html electric [adj. ih-LEK-trik] Something that is electric holds, carries or uses electricity [n.
ih-lek-TRIS-ih-tee] or it is exciting, thrilling, or charged with emotion.
Example: "Just before the fireworks show, the atmosphere was electric with
the crowd's anticipation." An electron [n. ih-LEK- tron] is a particle
of negative electric charge. The basic principle of all electric machines
is the reuinion of separated electric charges, with negatively charged
electrons flowing through the machine toward a positively charged absence
of electrons on the other side. This separation of charges is reflected
in the word's origin. The Latin root was electrum (amber, fossilized tree
sap). When amber is rubbed with certain materials (for example, feathers
or wool), an electric charge develops as many electrons are collected by
one material and lost by the other. coriaceous [adj. kor-ee-AY-shus] If something is coriaceous then it is leathery or has a tough, leathery
texture. Example: "The old man squinted out to sea, and a frown creased
his coriaceous forehead." Nowadays, this word is seldom used in ordinary
speech, but a web search reveals hundreds of pages where the word is used
as a technical term describing plant leaves, fungi, or other natural phenomena.
Like many such technical terms, it's from Latin. The root is corium (leather),
which also gave us these words: cuirass [n. kwih-RAS]: armor to protect
the chest currier [n. KUR-ee-ur]: one who prepares tanned hides for use
excoriate [v. ik-SKOR-ee-ayt]: tear or scrape off the skin; strongly censure
or denounce espionage [n. ES-pee-uh-nazh] To engage in espionage is to spy secretly on another party who is
an enemy or a potential enemy. This other party can be a foreign government
or a company or other organization, but not usually an individual. In the
distant past, the prehistoric root spek- (to observe) gave rise to Germanic
spehon (watcher). From that word, Old Italian had spione (spy), which led
to Old French espionner (to spy), the source of English spy. Later, there
was French espionnage, the immediate ancestor of English espionage. Other
words also branched out from the ancient spek-, including Latin specere
(to look at), which gave rise to specimen, spectacle, spectrum, aspect,
despise, expect, inspect, perspective, prospect, suspect, and many other
words. sublimate [v. SUB-luh-mayt] To sublimate is to change from a solid to a gas without passing
through a liquid stage, or the reverse process. Iodine, moth balls, and
ice are all able to sublimate under the right conditions. In psychology,
to sublimate an impulse is to change its expression to a socially acceptable
form. When a solid sublimates, its molecules are lifted up, and they drift
away. The root of the word is the Latin sublimare (to elevate), from sublimis
(uplifted), which is also the source of sublime (noble, majestic, supreme,
unexcelled). The Latin root sublimis is a compound of sub- (under) and
limen (threshold, lintel). From the same two roots we also have subliminal
(below the threshold of conscious awareness). Today's Cool Fact is about
freeze-drying, a process of sublimation http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/11/15.html hale [adj. HAYL] If you are hale, then you are free of illness, strong and healthy.
The word usually implies exceptional vigor and robustness, and is often
applied to older people. Example: "My dad is hale and hearty, living his
seventy-second year to its fullest." This word is from Old English hal
(healthy), whose ancient root was prehistoric Germanic khailaz (undamaged).
That root split into a family of words, including hale and its close relative,
whole, which received its wh- beginning in the 16th century. Other members
of the family diverged more in meaning. They include hail, heal, hallow,
health, and holy. Also in the same family are German heil (salute), Russian
celyi (whole), and Welsh coel (good omen). symbiosis [n. sim-bee-OH-sis] Symbiosis is a close relationship between two unrelated species
of life that is prolonged over many generations. Such a relationship is
symbiotic [adj. sim-bee-AW-tik] and a life form in a symbiotic relationship
is called a symbiont [n. SIM-bee-ont] or a symbiote [n. SIM-bee-ote]. Most
symbiotic relationships benefit both symbionts. An example is the relationship
between bees and flowers, in which the bees receive food (nectar and pollen)
and the flowers are fertilized. Another example is the relationship between
humans and the bacteria in our intestines, which help us digest our food.
The word comes from the Greek sumbiosis (companionship) derived from sumbios
(living together), which is a compound of syn- (together) and bios (life).
Today's Cool Fact is about a symbiotic relationship http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/11/12.html meme [n. MEEM] A meme is an idea that spreads itself from one mind to another,
competing with other ideas to be held by the minds within which it lives.
Memes are the basic building blocks of culture, just as genes are the basic
building blocks of organic life. The study of memes is called memetics
[n. meh-MEH-tiks]. This simple little word is so new it does not appear
in most dictionaries, yet memetics has quickly become an important field
of study. The basic idea of the meme (and the word) was introduced in 1976
by Richard Dawkins in his book "The Selfish Gene." Dawkins argued that
ideas follow some of the same evolutionary laws as genes, competing for
limited resources (minds) and passing themselves on to subsequent generations,
while evolving to be more fit for survival. The idea of memes is itself
a meme, which may have just entered your mind for the first time. Here
are more memes about memetics http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/meme.htm pabulum [n. PAB-yuh-lum] Pabulum can be good, nourishing food or it can be insipidly non-
stimulating entertainment or other intellectual fare. Example: "This season's
Tuesday night comedies are little more than pabulum designed to hypnotise
millions of viewers." When this word was first introduced into English
in the 18th century, it came from the Latin pabulum (food, nourishment,
fodder), and carried that meaning. Within 30 years, it added the sense
of stimulating intellectual nourishment. In the early 1930s, a new breakfast
cereal for babies was patented. Highly nutritious but also quite bland,
it was called Pablum, after the same Latin root. With the great success
of Pablum, the similar sounding pabulum came to refer not only to stimulating
nourishment, but also to anything bland and unstimulating. smithereens [n. smith-ur-EENZ] If something is in smithereens, then it has been smashed into many
tiny fragments. Example: "I was horrified to discover that my blue ming
vase had been smashed to smithereens in the earthquake." This word is almost
never seen in the singular form, although one might expect that one fragment
would be a smithereen. The origin is Irish smidirin (little fragment),
which is the diminutive of smiodar (fragment). Several other Irish diminutives
have made it into English, including the names Colleen, from Cailin (little
girl) and Kathleen, from Caitlin. There is also poteen (illegally distilled
Irish whiskey), from poitin (small pot). More about the Irish language
and its influence on English http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/irish/language.html schlemiel [n. shluh-MEEL] A schlemiel is someone who is a clumsy, unlucky bungler. Example:
"After losing my fifth golf ball into the water hazard, I felt like a total
schlemiel." Schlemiel is one of a group of words beginning in sh- or sch-
that were imported from Yiddish. It's from shlemil, a word whose origin
is said to be in the Talmud, an ancient Jewish holy book. There, a man
named Shelumiel is described, who experiences difficult times and never
wins any battles. Sometimes, along with schlemiel comes schlimazel, another
word for an unlucky dolt, from Yiddish shlimazl (bad luck). Here are more
words from Yiddish shlock: trash, cheap merchandise schlep: carry, lug
laboriously schmaltz: over-sentimentality schmooze: hang around talking
and not working schnook: someone who is easily fooled schmuck: fool, heedless
oaf. tautochrone [n. TOT-uh-krone] A tautochrone is a curve, shaped so that an object falling along
it under the influence of gravity will reach the bottom after the same
amount of time, no matter where it starts from. It's a U-shaped curve,
with the ends higher than the center. An inverted tautochrone is a cycloid,
which is the curve traced by a point on the outside of a wheel as it rolls
along the ground. The word comes from Greek tauto- (the same) and chronos
(time). Here are more "sameness" words from tauto-: tautology [n. tot-AW-luh-gee]:
redundant explanation; meaningless proof that is true whether or not its
component statements are true tautegorical [adj. tot-uh-GOR-ih-kul]: saying
the same thing with different words (opposite of allegorical) tautoousious
[adj. tot-oh-OW-see-us]: absolutely identical The mathematician Joseph-Louis
Lagrange studied the tautochrone http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Lagrange.html sangfroid [n. sahn-FWAH] If you have sangfroid, then you are calm and collected, even when
things get difficult or stressful. Example: "We expected Pete to be nervous
and sweaty as he stepped up to the podium, but his sangfroid surprised
everyone." In English, if you are "cold blooded" you are ruthless and unfeeling,
lacking compassion. In French, to have cold blood means to be calm and
collected, even under stress. Sangfroid is from the French sang-froid (cold
blood), originally from Latin sanguis (blood) and frigidus (cold). Here
are more "bloody" words: sangria [n. sang-GREE-uh]: cold drink with wine
and fruit juice sanguicolous [adj. sang-GWIK-uh-lus]: living in the blood
(as a parasite) sanguine [adj. SANG-gwin]: blood colored; of cheerful,
healthy temper sanguinary [adj. SANG-gwin-air-ee]: accompanied by bloodshed;
bloodthirsty evince [v. ih-VINS] To evince is to show clearly, to constitute outward evidence of
something, or to reveal. Example: "This thin layer of dark red sediment
evinces the arrival of ash from a volcanic eruption 6,000 years ago." Near-synonyms
for this word include manifest, demonstrate, and indicate. The root was
Latin evincere (to vanquish, to prove), which came from ex- (out) and vincere
(to conquer). In the 1600s, to evince could be to convict of wrongdoing,
or to subdue. Later, that meaning was dropped, and to evince was to prove
by argument as in a court. The modern meaning emerged in the 1700s. Another
modern word that evolved from evincere is evict, which is to put out or
eject by legal process. For example, a tenant may be evicted from an apartment.
Also from vincere are vanquish, victor, and convince. haliography [n. hal-ee-OG-ruh-fee] A description of the sea is a haliography, and someone who writes
such a description is a haliographer [n. hal-ee-OG-ruh-fer]. Example: "I
have always enjoyed the evocative haliographies of Conrad and Melville."
The suffix -graphy refers to something that is written or represented in
some way. It's from the Greek graphein (to write). The prefix halio is
a modification of halo-, a prefix from the Greek hals (salt, sea). Here
are more "salty" words haloid [adj. HAL-oid]: salt-like halimous [adj.
HAL-ih-mus]: of or about salt; marine halophyte [n. HALE-uh-fyt]: plant
that lives in salty soil halophile [n. HAL-uh-fyl]: life form that prefers
a salty environment halomancy [n. HAL-oh-man-see]: fortune telling with
salt halogen [n. HALE-uh-jen]: element that forms salts with metals halocline
[n. HALE-uh-klyn]: vertical gradient in ocean salinity. sandwich [n., v. SAND-wich] A sandwich is a food item made from two or more slices of bread
with meat, cheese, or other filling between them. It can also be anything
that has similar alternating layers, and to sandwich something is to enclose
it between two layers. This word's story goes back to the municipal borough
of Sandwich, in England near Dover. In the 1760s, the fourth Earl of Sandwich
was John Montague, a heavy gambler who liked to stay at the gaming tables
for many hours. To make this possible, he instructed his servant to bring
him pieces of meat and cheese between slices of bread. He could eat these
without making a mess, while still keeping one hand free for rolling the
dice. Montague's requested snack was not a new invention, but his extended
gambling binges were well known. Soon his favorite bread and meat combination
was known as a sandwich. Are you hungry? Make yourself a nice sandwich.
http://www.garvick.com/recipesmm/sandwich_recipes.htmhttp://www.recipeamerica.com/recipes/sandwich.htmhttp://soar.berkeley.edu/recipes/sandwiches/ slake [v. SLAYK] To slake is to lessen or abate. You can slake your thirst by drinking,
or slake someone's fear by reassuring them. To slake can also be to cool
or refresh by wetting or moistening, and to slake lime (calcium oxide)
is to change it into calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) by combining it with
water. Of all these meanings, the oldest is the first one. The word is
from Middle English slaken (to abate), from Old English slacean, derived
from slaec (sluggish). This root was also the source of Modern English
slack, slacken, and slacker. From the idea of slaking thirst by drinking
came slaking by adding water to cool or refresh. That usage led to slaking
as a name for the chemical alteration of lime by adding water. Unlike slaking
to cool, slaking lime causes the release of heat. lollygag [v. LOL-ee-gag]; alternate spelling lallygag To lollygag is to dawdle or waste time by aimlessly puttering around.
Example: "You kids stop lollygagging and get busy with your homework!"
People have been accused of lollygagging as early as the middle of the
nineteenth century. There has always been a negative judgment in the accusations,
but the meaning of the word has changed. In the mid-1800s, the word referred
to lascivious indulgence in kisses and caresses, like the (then) scandalous
actions of a lovestruck couple. No one knows the origin of lollygag, but
it has been suggested that the root was the dialect word lolly (tongue),
which makes sense considering the original meaning of the word. If so,
it is closely related to lollipop, a word that originally referred to a
kind of treacle candy. pass the buck To pass the buck is to shift responsibility or avoid blame by assigning
it to someone else. Example: "Accused of eating all the cookies, Larry
passed the buck to Joe, pointing out the crumbs on his chin." This expression
originated in poker games in the American west. The buck was a token, usually
a silver dollar or dollar bill, that was passed around to show whose turn
it was. An alternate theory says the token was a buckhorn knife. How did
a dollar come to be called a buck? The most widely accepted theory is that
the word originally referred to a buckskin, which was used as a unit of
barter between Native Americans and colonials. As the name of an animal,
buck goes back to Old English buc (male deer) and bucca (male goat). boondocks [n. BOON-doks] If you are from the boondocks, then you come from a rural place,
far away from the big city. The boondocks can also be a wild, densely vegetated
place, like a jungle or thick forest. Such places can also be called the
boonies. Both words are slang, and they are always plural. This word sounds
like the name of one of America's wilderness folk heroes, Daniel Boone.
But its origin is in the South Pacific, far from Daniel Boone's Kentucky
home. It entered English from Tagalog [tah-GAH-log], the language spoken
in the Philippines. American soldiers there heard locals referring to the
back-country as bundok (mountains), and dreaded being assigned to marches
out there. They brought the word back home with them, and it came to be
applied to any wild, remote area. dunnage [n. DUN-ij] Dunnage can be loose packing material that is used to fill and level
off a ship's hold before the cargo is added, or it can be your personal
baggage. It can also be the padding in a shipping container, like styrofoam
peanuts or bubble wrap. Some sources claim that the origin of this word
is unknown, listing various theories. One theory says the word comes from
Low German "dunne twige" (brushwood), since that was often the material
used as dunnage in ship's holds in the 1800s. Another theory is that it
comes from Dunlop, a town in Scotland. However, the American Heritage Dictionary
says the origin is Middle English dennage, from Middle Dutch denne (flooring
of a ship), which makes sense to us. The dunnage room of a ship is where
the crew are bunked, and it used to be where the dunnage was stored when
not in use. Visit the dunnage room of the steamer William G. Mather. http://little.nhlink.net/wgm/vt/dunnage/dunn.html vocable [n., adj. VOE-kuh-bul] If you look at a word as a sequence of sounds or syllables, without
considering its meaning, then you are seeing that word as a vocable. Also,
a word that is vocable is one that can be spoken. Example: "The vocable
'mama' seems like a natural sound for a baby's first word." Language has
been a part of human culture for many millennia, and the words we use to
describe words are very old. From the ancient root wek- came the Latin
vox (voice) and vocare (to call). Those roots gave us a family of modern
words having to do with voices, words, and language. More "language" words
from vox and vocare vocal: relating to the voice voice: sound produced
by the vocal cords vocation: a regular occupation or calling vocabulary:
all the words known; all the words of a language vociferous: prone to noisy
vocal outbreaks vocoder: device for producing artificial speech kleptocracy [n. klep-TOK-ruh-see] A kleptocracy is a government that is run by thieves, or characterized
by rampant greed and corruption. The first part of the word is from Greek
kleptein (to steal), which also forms part of kleptomania (compulsive thievery).
The suffix ocracy is from the French -cratie, originally from Greek kratos
(strength, power). Today, that suffix refers to any organization that governs
or rules. Here are more forms of government democracy: by the people, from
Greek demos (people) meritocracy: by those deemed most deserving (meritorious)
bureaucracy: composed of a hierarchy of non-elected officials autocracy:
by one person who holds absolute power theocracy: by a religious institution
or authority hagiocracy: by holy men or saints. put on the dog To put on the dog is to dress in a sharp, flashy way, in your very
best clothes. Example: "For Bob and Alice's wedding, I really put on the
dog, with a full tuxedo and an irridescent blue-green bow tie." Today,
this expression has nothing to do with wearing your pet. Its origin might
have had something to do with an actual dog, but no one knows for sure.
Several explanations have been offered for this mysterious phrase. According
to one story, in medieval times the very best shoes were made of dog skin.
Since the expression was first recorded in America in the 1870s, this is
an unlikely origin. Another explanation refers to the popularity of dressed-up
ladies' lap dogs in the late 1800's in the US, when putting on the dog
might have had quite a literal meaning.
