The word for today is… caustic (adj) – 1. Capable of burning, corroding, dissolving, or eating away by chemical action. 2. Sarcastic or cutting; biting. 3. Given to making caustic remarks: Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : If you have a burning desire to know the origins of caustic, you’re already
The word for today is… blandish (verb) – To coax by flattery or wheedling; cajole. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : The word blandish has been a part of the English language since at least the 14th century with virtually no change in its meaning. It ultimately derives from blandus, a Latin
The word for today is… belfry (noun) – 1. A bell tower, especially one attached to a building. 2. The part of a tower or steeple in which bells are hung. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Surprisingly, belfry does not come from bell, and early belfries did not contain bells at
The word for today is… amaranthine (adj) – 1. Of, relating to, or resembling an amaranth*. 2. Eternally beautiful and unfading; everlasting. 3. Deep purple-red. *amaranth – Any of various annual plants of the genus Amaranthus having dense green or reddish clusters of tiny flowers and including weeds, ornamentals, and species cultivated
The word for today is… unexpurgated (adj) – (of a book, text, etc) not amended or censored by removing potentially offensive material. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : 1882, from un- (1) “not” + past participle of expurgate. Etymology of expurgate : 1620s, “to purge” (in anatomy), back-formation from expurgation or from Latin expurgatus,
The word for today is… sawbones (noun) – A physician, especially a surgeon. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Sawbones cut its first literary tooth in Charles Dickens’s 1837 novel The Pickwick Papers, when Sam Weller says to Mr. Pickwick, “Don’t you know what a sawbones is, sir? … I thought
The word for today is… posthaste (adv) – With great speed; rapidly. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : In the 16th century, the phrase “haste, post, haste” was used to inform posts (as couriers were then called) that a letter was urgent and must be hastily delivered. Posts would then speedily gallop
The word for today is… mitigate (verb) – 1. To make less severe or intense; moderate or alleviate. 2. To make alterations to (land) to make it less polluted or more hospitable to wildlife. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : The meaning of mitigate is straightforward enough: it is most often used
The word for today is… buttress (noun) – 1. A structure, usually brick or stone, built against a wall for support or reinforcement. 2. Something resembling a buttress, as: (a) The flared base of certain tree trunks. (b) A horny growth on the heel of a horse’s hoof. 3. Something
* The word for today is… stench (noun) – 1. A strong, foul odour; a stink. 2. A foul or objectionable quality Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Old English stenc “a smell, odor, scent, fragrance” (either pleasant or unpleasant), from Proto-Germanic *stankwiz (source also of Old Saxon stanc, Old High German stanch,
The word for today is… suffuse (verb) – 1. To spread through or over, as with liquid or light. 2. To fill thoroughly or permeate, as with a quality or emotion. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : The Latin word suffendere, ancestor to suffuse by way of Latin suff?sus, has various
The word for today is… lèse-majesté (noun) – Lèse-majesté, a French term meaning “to do wrong to majesty”, is an offence against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state. Source : Wikipedia Etymology : Lèse-majesté (or lese majesty, as it is also styled in English publications) comes into English by
The word for today is… hegemony (noun) – The predominance of one state or social group over others. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Hegemony comes to English from the Greek h?gemonia, a noun formed from the verb h?geisthai (“to lead”), which also gave us the word exegesis (meaning “exposition”
I’ve been tediously reviewing all the various submissions on the Arms Legislation Bill. Whilst reviewing submissions from the Auckland select committee meeting, I came across an interesting revelation in one of them. Part Registration is already active in New Zealand. From 1983 NZ focused on a “Fit and proper
The word for today is… frowsy (adj) – 1. Unkempt; slovenly. 2. Having an unpleasant smell; musty. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : The exact origins of frowsy are perhaps lost in an old, frowsy book somewhere, but some etymologists have speculated that frowsy (also spelled frowzy) shares a common ancestor with
