The word for today is… decimate (verb): 1 : to select by lot and kill every tenth man of 2 : to exact a tax of 10 percent from 3a : to reduce drastically especially in number b : to cause great destruction or harm to Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The connection between decimate
The word for today is… impetus (noun): 1a(1) : a driving force (2) : incentive, stimulus b : stimulation or encouragement resulting in increased activity 2 : the property possessed by a moving body in virtue of its mass and its motion Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Impetus comes from the Latin verb impetere,
The word for today is… specious (adjective): 1 : having a false look of truth or genuineness 2 : having deceptive attraction or allure 3 : obsolete : showy Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Specious comes from Latin speciosus, meaning “beautiful” or “plausible,” and Middle English speakers used it to mean “visually pleasing.” In time,
The word for today is… bastion (noun): 1 : a projecting part of a fortification 2 : a fortified area or position 3 : stronghold – as in sense 2, the last bastion of academic standards Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Bastion is related to bastille (a word now used as a general term for
ostensible (adjective): 1 : intended for display : open to view 2 : being such in appearance : plausible rather than demonstrably true or real Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Ostensible comes from Latin ostendere, meaning “to show,” and the word suggests a discrepancy between a declared or implied aim or reason and the true
The word for today is… henchman (noun): 1a : a trusted follower : a right-hand man b : a political follower whose support is chiefly for personal advantage c : a member of a gang 2 obsolete : a squire or page to a person of high rank Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The earliest
The word for today is… furtive (adjective): 1a : done in a quiet and secretive way to avoid being noticed b : expressive of stealth 2 : obtained underhandedly Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Furtive comes from either Latin furtivus or French furtif. The earliest known written uses of furtive are from the early
The word for today is… skirmish (noun, verb): noun 1 : a minor fight in war usually incidental to larger movements 2a : a brisk preliminary verbal conflict b : a minor dispute or contest between opposing parties verb 1 : to engage in a skirmish 2 : to search about (as for supplies Source
The word for today is… proscribe (verb): 1 : to publish the name of as condemned to death with the property of the condemned forfeited to the state 2 : to condemn or forbid as harmful or unlawful : prohibit Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Proscribe and prescribe each have a Latin-derived prefix
The word for today is… template (noun): 1 a: a gauge, pattern, or mold (such as a thin plate or board) used as a guide to the form of a piece being made b: a molecule (as of DNA) that serves as a pattern for the generation of another macromolecule
The word for today is… snooze (verb, noun): verb: : to take a nap noun: : nap Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : For something a bit different this morning, the origin of snooze is……unknown. However its first documented use as a verb is 1785 and as a noun eight years later. If
The word for today is… wend (verb, noun): verb: : to direct one’s course : to proceed on (one’s way) noun (capitalised) : a member of a Slavic people of eastern Germany Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Wend is related to the verb wind, which means, among other things, “to follow a
The word for today is… limerick (noun): : a light or humorous verse form of five chiefly anapestic verses of which lines 1, 2, and 5 are of three feet and lines 3 and 4 are of two feet with a rhyme scheme of aabba Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : A limerick
The word for today is… gregarious (adjective): 1a : tending to associate with others of one’s kind b : marked by or indicating a liking for companionship c : of or relating to a social group 2a of a plant : growing in a cluster or a colony b : living in contiguous nests
The word for today is… cryptography (noun): 1 : secret writing 2 : the enciphering and deciphering of messages in secret code or cipher Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : For a word having to do with secrets, cryptography has a surprisingly transparent origin. The word comes from Greek kryptos, meaning “hidden” or “secret,
The word for today is… behest (noun): 1 : an authoritative order : command 2 : an urgent prompting Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Behest first appeared in Old English and was formed from the prefix be- and the verb hatan (“to command” or “to promise”). While this word was originally used only in
