The word for today is… vagary (noun) - : an erratic, unpredictable, or extravagant manifestation, action, or notion Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Let’s say, hypothetically, that two roads diverge in a yellow wood. And (also hypothetically) sorry that you cannot travel both, you opt for the grassy one less traveled by.
The word for today is… caparison (noun, verb) - noun 1a: an ornamental covering for a horse b: decorative trappings and harness 2: rich clothing : adornment verb : to provide with or as if with a rich ornamental covering : adorn Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Caparison first embellished English in the 1500s, when
The word for today is… cult (noun) - 1: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious, also : its body of adherents 2a: great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (such as a film or book) b: the object of such devotion c: a usually small group of
The word for today is… incantation (noun) - : a use of spells or verbal charms spoken or sung as a part of a ritual of magic Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Incantation comes directly from the Latin word incantare, "enchant". Incantare itself has cantare as a root, which reminds us
The word for today is… truculent (adjective) - 1: aggressively self-assertive : belligerent 2: scathingly harsh : vitriolic 3: feeling or displaying ferocity : cruel, savage 4: deadly, destructive Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : English speakers adopted truculent from Latin in the mid-16th century, trimming truculentus, a form of the Latin adjective trux, meaning “savage,
The word for today is… deliquesce (verb) - 1: to dissolve or melt away 2: to become soft or liquid with age or maturity — used of some fungal structures (such as gills) Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Deliquesce comes from the prefix de- ("from, down, away") and a form of
The word for today is… parochial (adjective) - 1: of or relating to a church parish 2: of or relating to a parish as a unit of local government 3: confined or restricted as if within the borders of a parish : limited in range or scope (as to a narrow
The word for today is… clepsydra (noun) - : water clock Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : In ancient times the sun was used to measure time during the day, but sundials weren't much help after dark, so peoples around the world invented clocks that used dripping water to mark the hours.
The word for today is… diatribe (noun) - 1: a bitter and abusive speech or piece of writing 2: ironic or satirical criticism 3 archaic : a prolonged discourse Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : When English speakers adopted diatribe in the late 16th century, they were glancing back at the ancients. The word
The word for today is… asperity (noun) - 1: roughness of manner or of temper : harshness of behavior or speech that expresses bitterness or anger 2: rigor, severity 3a: roughness of surface : unevenness, also : a tiny projection from a surface - the asperities of the tongue b: roughness of sound
The word for today is… facade (noun) - 1: the front of a building, also : any face of a building given special architectural treatment 2: a false, superficial, or artificial appearance or effect Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Facade is thought to have come to English from the Vulgar Latin facia, meaning
The word for today is… supercilious (adjective) - : coolly and patronizingly haughty Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Arrogant and disdainful types tend to raise an eyebrow at anything they consider beneath them. The original supercilious crowd must have shown that raised-eyebrow look often, because the adjective supercilious derives from "supercilium,"
The word for today is… etymology (noun) - 1: the history of a linguistic form (such as a word) shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its
The word for today is… veritable (adjective) - : being in fact the thing named and not false, unreal, or imaginary —often used to stress the aptness of a metaphor Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Veritable, like its close relative verity (“truth”), came to English through Anglo-French from Latin, ultimately the adjective vērus,
The word for today is… pococurante (adjective) - : indifferent, nonchalant Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : The French writer Voltaire carefully named his characters in Candide (1759) to create allegories. He appended the prefix pan-, meaning "all," to "glōssa," the Greek word for "tongue," to name his
The word for today is… indigenous (adjective) - 1a: produced, growing, living, or occurring natively or naturally in a particular region or environment b: Indigenous or less commonly indigenous : of, relating to, or descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a place and especially of a place that was colonized
