The word for today is… a cappella (adverb or adjective): : without instrumental accompaniment Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : A cappella arrived in English from Italian sometime around the late-18th century. In Italian, a cappella means "in chapel or choir style." Cappella is the Italian word for "chapel&
The word for today is… psephology (noun): Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Psephology is from the Greek word psēphos, meaning "pebble." (One relative of psephology is psephomancy, meaning "divination by pebbles.") Psephology merited election as the name for the work of analysts of elections, or psephologists, because
The word for today is… amalgamate (verb): : to unite in or as if in an amalgam Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The noun amalgam derives, by way of Middle French, from Medieval Latin amalgama. It was first used in the 15th century with the meaning "a mixture of mercury and
The word for today is… cursory (adjective): : rapidly and often superficially performed or produced : hasty Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Cursory and its synonyms superficial and shallow all mean "lacking in depth or care"—but these words are not used in exactly the same way in all cases. Cursory,
The word for today is… macabre (adjective): 1: having death as a subject : comprising or including a personalized representation of death 2: dwelling on the gruesome 3: tending to produce horror in a beholder Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : We trace the origins of macabre to the name of the Book
The word for today is… hatching (noun): : the engraving or drawing of fine lines in close proximity especially to give an effect of shading also : the pattern so made Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Hatching refers to the drawing or engraving of lines close together as a method of shading. The
The word for today is… hallowed (adjective): Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Hallowed is the past participle of the verb hallow, a term that descends from the Middle English halowen. That word can be traced back to the Old English adjective hālig, meaning "holy." During the Middle Ages, All
The word for today is… syncretism (noun): 1: the combination of different forms of belief or practice 2: the fusion of two or more originally different inflectional forms Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The ancient Greeks mainly used the term synkrētismos to describe the joining together of Greeks in opposition to
The word for today is… disbursement (noun): : the act of paying out money especially from a fund : the act of disbursing Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Disbursement was minted in English in the late 16th century by melding the noun suffix -ment with the verb disburse. Disburse is a borrowing of
The word for today is… usurp (verb): 1a: to seize and hold (office, place, functions, powers, etc.) in possession by force or without right b: to take or make use of without right 2: to take the place of by or as if by force : supplant Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology
The word for today is… categorical (adjective): 1: absolute, unqualified 2a: of, relating to, or constituting a category b: involving, according with, or considered with respect to specific categories Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The ancestor of categorical and category has been important in logic and philosophy since the days of
The word for today is… manifesto (noun, verb): noun : a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer verb : to issue a manifesto Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Manifesto is related to manifest, which occurs in English as a noun, verb, and adjective. Of these, the adjective,
The word for today is… discipline (noun, verb): noun 1a: control gained by enforcing obedience or order b: orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior c: self-control 2: punishment 3: training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character 4: a field of study 5:
The word for today is… euphoria (noun): : a feeling of well-being or elation Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Health and happiness are often linked, sometimes even in etymologies. Nowadays euphoria generally refers to happiness, but it derives from euphoros, a Greek word that means "healthy." Given that root,
The word for today is… palaver (noun): 1a: a long parley usually between persons of different cultures or levels of sophistication b: conference, discussion 2a: idle talk b: misleading or beguiling speech Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Though the word comes from Portuguese, it likely entered English by way of the
The word for today is… betwixt (adverb or preposition): : between Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Today's word merits a WOTD spot not because of its meaning but because it is neither a noun, adjective or verb (by far the most common varieties of candidates - obviously). Even better, it can
