The word for today is… aphelion (noun) – The point on the orbit of a celestial body that is farthest from the sun. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Aphelion and perihelion are troublesome terms. Which one means a planet is nearest to the sun and which means it is farthest away?
The word for today is… prosopagnosia (noun) – A disorder characterised by the inability to recognise people by their faces. In some cases it is present at birth, and in others it is the result of a brain injury. Also called face blindness. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : 1950, Medical Latin
The word for today is… yokel (noun) – A rustic; a bumpkin. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : The origins of yokel are uncertain, but it might have come from the dialectal English word yokel used as the name for the green woodpecker (the nickname is of imitative origin). Other words for
The word for today is… shambolic (adj) – Disorderly or chaotic. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : 1961, apparently from shamble in the sense “disorder” (see shambles), perhaps on model of symbolic. If you enjoyed this BFD word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends.
The word for today is… parse (verb) – 1. (a) To break (a sentence) down into its component parts of speech with an explanation of the form, function, and syntactical relationship of each part. (b) To describe (a word) by stating its part of speech, form, and syntactical relationships in a
The word for today is… omnipotent (adj) – Having unlimited or universal power, authority, or force; all-powerful. (noun) – 1. One having unlimited power or authority. 2. Omnipotent God. Used with the. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : The word omnipotent made its way into English through Anglo-French, but it ultimately derives from
The word for today is… maestro (noun) – A master in an art, especially a composer, conductor, or music teacher. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : “Master of music, great teacher or composer,” 1797, from Italian maestro, literally “master,” from Latin magisterium, accusative of magister “chief, head, director, teacher,” contrastive adjective (“he
The word for today is… jargon (noun) – 1. The specialised language of a trade, profession, or similar group, especially when viewed as difficult to understand by outsiders. 2. Nonsensical or incoherent language. 3. A hybrid language or dialect; a pidgin. Not in technical use. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Mid-14th
The word for today is… incontrovertible (adj) – Impossible to dispute; unquestionable. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : If something is indisputable, it’s incontrovertible. But if it is open to question, is it controvertible? It sure is. The antonyms controvertible and incontrovertible are both derivatives of the verb controvert (meaning “to
The word for today is… hombre (noun) – (slang) A man; a fellow. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : “A man” (especially one of Spanish descent), 1846, from Spanish, from Latin hominem, accusative of homo “man”. If you enjoyed this BFD word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends.
The word for today is… gourmand (noun) – 1. A lover of good food. 2. A person who often eats too much. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : “What God has plagu’d us with this gourmaund guest?” As this exasperated question from Alexander Pope’s 18th-century translation of Homer’s Odyssey
The word for today is… gauche (adj) – Lacking grace or social polish; awkward or tactless. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : “Awkward, tactless,” 1751 (Chesterfield), from French gauche “left” (15th century, replacing senestre in that sense), originally “awkward, awry,” from gauchir “turn aside, swerve,” from Proto-Germanic *wankjan (source also of Old
The word for today is… fraternize (Real English speakers would spell this -ise) (verb) – 1. To associate with others in a brotherly or congenial way. 2. To associate on friendly terms with an enemy or opposing group, often in violation of discipline or orders. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Both
I was out with “She who must be obeyed” last night and saw the perfect metaphor for life in New Zealand. We were out buying a couple of pizzas for tea, in Taita. Most of the shops are closed up with steel shutters. Around the corner is the Walter Nash
The word for today is… crux (noun) – 1. a vital or decisive stage, point, etc. 2. a baffling problem or difficulty. 3. (Mountaineering) mountaineering the most difficult and often decisive part of a climb or pitch 4. (Heraldry) a rare word for cross Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : In Latin,
The word for today is… argot (noun) – A specialised vocabulary or set of idioms used by a particular group. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : We borrowed argot from French in the early 1800s, although our language already had several words covering its meaning. There was jargon, the Anglo-French ancestor of
