The word for today is… instigate (verb) – 1. To initiate or bring about, often by inciting. 2. To urge on; goad. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Instigate is often used as a synonym of incite (as in “hoodlums instigating violence”), but the two words differ slightly in their overall usage.
The word for today is… homonymous (adj) – 1. Having the same name. 2. Of the nature of a homonym; homonymic. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : The “ambiguous” sense of homonymous refers mainly to words that have two or more meanings. Logicians and scientists who wanted to refer to (or complain
The word for today is… gamut (noun) – 1. A complete range or extent. 2. (Music) The entire series of recognised notes. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : To get the lowdown on gamut, we have to dive to the bottom of a musical scale to which the 11th-century musician and monk
The word for today is… festoon (noun) – 1. A string or garland, as of leaves or flowers, suspended in a loop or curve between two points. 2. A representation of such a string or garland, as in painting or sculpture. (verb) – 1. To decorate with or as if with festoons.
The word for today is… escapade (noun) – An adventurous, unconventional act or undertaking. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : When it was first used in English, escapade referred to an act of escaping or fleeing from confinement or restraint. The relationship between escape and escapade does not end there. Both words
The word for today is… eolian (adj) – Relating to, caused by, or carried by the wind. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : When Aeolus blew into town, things really got moving. He was the Greek god of the winds and the king of the floating island of Aeolia. In The Odyssey,
The word for today is… empirical (adj) – 1. (a) Relying on or derived from observation or experiment. (b) Verifiable or provable by means of observation or experiment. 2. Guided by practical experience and not theory, especially in medicine. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : When empirical first appeared as an adjective
The word for today is… disabuse (verb) – To free from a falsehood or misconception. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : We know the verb abuse as a word meaning “to misuse,” “to mistreat,” or “to revile.” But when disabuse first appeared in the early 17th century, there was a sense of
The word for today is… devise (verb) – 1. To form, plan, or arrange in the mind; design or contrive. 2. (Law) To transmit or give (real property) by will. 3. (Archaic) To suppose; imagine. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : There’s something inventive about devise, a word that stems from
The word for today is… gest (noun) – 1. A notable adventure or exploit. 2. (a) A verse romance or tale. (b) A prose romance. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : “Let the Queen know of our gests,” Antony instructs his men after a hard-won victory on the battlefield in William Shakespeare’
The word for today is… lissome (adj) – 1. Moving or able to move with grace and ease; lithe and graceful. 2. Easily bent; supple. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Lissome (sometimes spelled lissom) is a gently altered form of its synonym, lithesome. While lissome tends to be the more popular
The word for today is… troubadour (noun) – 1. One of a class of 12th-century and 13th-century lyric poets in southern France, northern Italy, and northern Spain, who composed songs in langue d’oc often about courtly love. 2. A strolling minstrel. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : In the Middle Ages,
The word for today is… vilipend (verb) – 1. To view or treat with contempt; despise. 2. To speak ill of; disparage. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Vilipend first appeared in English in the 15th century and had its heyday during the 19th century—being found in the works of such
The word for today is… fictitious (adj) – Spurious, fake; fictional; created or assumed with the intention to conceal. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Fictitious is related to the Medieval Latin word fict?cius, meaning “artificial,” “imaginary,” “feigned,” or “fraudulent.” It was first used in English as an antonym for natural.
The word for today is… whodunit (noun) – A story dealing with a crime and its solution; a detective story. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : In 1930, Donald Gordon, a book reviewer for News of Books, needed to come up with something to say about a rather unremarkable mystery novel called
The word for today is… divagate (verb) – 1. To wander or drift about. 2. To ramble; digress. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Divagate hasn’t wandered far in meaning from its Latin ancestors. It descends from the verb divagari, which comes from dis-, meaning “apart,” and vagari, meaning “to wander.
