The word for today is… vanilla (noun, adjective) – noun 1a : vanilla bean b : a commercially important extract of the vanilla bean that is used especially as a flavoring 2 : any of a genus (Vanilla) of tropical American climbing epiphytic orchids adjective 1 : flavored with vanilla 2 : lacking distinction : plain, ordinary,
The word for today is… voracious (adjective) – 1 : having a huge appetite : ravenous 2 : excessively eager : insatiable Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Voracious is one of several English words that derive from the Latin verb vorare, which means “to eat greedily” or “to devour.” “Vorare” is also an ancestor of “devour”
The word for today is… ambidextrous (adjective) – 1a : using both hands with equal ease or dexterity b soccer : using both feet with equal ease : 2 : designed or suitable for use by the left or right hand 3 : unusually skillful 4 : characterized by duplicity Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Latin dexter originally
The word for today is… durable (adjective) – able to exist for a long time without significant deterioration in quality or value Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Something “durable” lasts a long time, so it’s no surprise that the word comes to us, via Anglo-French, from the Latin verb durare, meaning
The word for today is… nugatory (adjective) – 1 : of little or no consequence 2 : having no force Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Nugatory, which first appeared in English in the 17th century, comes from the Latin adjective nugatorius and is ultimately a derivative of the noun nugae, meaning “trifles.” Like its
The word for today is… funambulism (noun) – 1 : tightrope walking 2 : a show especially of mental agility Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Back in ancient Rome, tightrope walking was a popular spectacle at public gatherings. The Latin word for “tightrope walker” is “funambulus,” from the Latin funis, meaning “rope,” plus ambulare,
crepuscular (adjective) – 1 : of, relating to, or resembling twilight 2 : occurring or active during twilight Source : Online Etymology Dictionary Etymology : figurative use, “dim, indistinct,” is attested from 1660s; literal use, “pertaining to or resembling twilight,” from 1755. From Latin crepusculum “twilight, dusk,”; related to creper “obscure, uncertain,” from Proto-Italic *krepos
The word for today is… mesmerise (verb) – 1 : to subject to mesmerism (hypnotic induction held to involve animal magnetism) 2 : spellbind Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Experts can’t agree on whether Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815) was a quack or a genius, but all concede that the late 18th-century physician’s
The word for today is… nebula (noun) – 1 : any of numerous clouds of gas or dust in interstellar space 2 : a galaxy other than the Milky Way galaxy —not used technically Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Nebula comes to us from Latin, where it meant “mist” or “cloud.” In its earliest
The word for today is… tonsorial (adjective) \- : of or relating to a barber or the work of a barber Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Tonsorial is a fancy word that describes the work of those who give shaves and haircuts. (It can apply more broadly to hairdressers as well.) It
The word for today is… diaspora (noun) – 1 capitalized, Judaism a : the Jews living outside Palestine or modern Israel b : the settling of scattered colonies of Jews outside ancient Palestine after the Babylonian exile c : the area outside ancient Palestine settled by Jews 2a : people settled far from their ancestral
The word for today is… episcopal (adjective) – 1 : of or relating to a bishop 2 : of, having, or constituting government by bishops 3 capitalized : of or relating to the Protestant Episcopal Church representing the Anglican communion in the U.S. Source : Online Etymology Dictionary Etymology : mid-15c., “belonging to or characteristic
The word for today is… manicule (noun) – a symbol in the shape of a pointing hand, used to draw attention to a section of text. Source : Atlas Obscura Etymology : A manicule takes the form of a hand with an outstretched index figure, gesturing towards a particularly pertinent piece of text.
The word for today is… jeopardy (noun)) – 1 : exposure to or imminence of death, loss, or injury 2 (law) : the danger that an accused person is subjected to when on trial for a criminal offense Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Geoffrey Chaucer employed the word jeopardy in his late 14th-century masterpiece,
The word for today is… proselytise (verb) – 1 : to induce someone to convert to one’s faith 2 : to recruit someone to join one’s party, institution, or cause Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Proselytise comes from the noun proselyte (meaning “a new convert”), which comes from the Late Latin noun
The word for today is… febrile (adjective) – marked or caused by fever Source : Merriam – Webster Etymology : Not too surprisingly, febrile originated in the field of medicine. We note its first use in the work of the 17th-century medical reformer Noah Biggs. Biggs used it in admonishing physicians to care for
