The word for today is… continual (adj) – 1. Recurring regularly or frequently. 2. Not interrupted; steady. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Since the mid-19th century, many grammarians have drawn a distinction between continual and continuous. Continual should only mean “occurring at regular intervals,” they insist, whereas continuous should be used
The word for today is… bivouac (noun) – A temporary encampment often in an unsheltered area. (verb) – To camp in a bivouac. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : In the 1841 edition of An American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster observed bivouac to be a French borrowing having military origins.
The word for today is… bas-relief (noun) – (Art Terms) sculpture in low relief, in which the forms project slightly from the background but no part is completely detached from it. Also called (Italian): basso rilievo Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : The best way to understand the meaning of bas-relief is
The word for today is… abscond (verb) – To leave quickly and secretly and hide oneself, often to avoid arrest or prosecution. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Abscond derives from Latin abscondere, meaning “to hide away,” a product of the prefix ab- and condere, a verb meaning “to conceal.” (Condere is
The word for today is… desuetude (noun) – A state of disuse or inactivity. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Desuetude must be closely related to disuse, right? Wrong. Despite the similarities between them, desuetude and disuse derive from two different Latin verbs. Desuetude comes from suescere, a word that means “to
The word for today is… calliope (noun) – 1 (Greek Mythology) The Muse of epic poetry. 2. A musical instrument fitted with steam whistles, played from a keyboard. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : With a name literally meaning “beautiful-voiced” (from kallos, meaning “beauty,” and ops, meaning “voice”), Calliope was the most
The word for today is… brackish (adj) – 1. (a) Being or containing water that is somewhat salty but less salty than sea water. (b) Having a somewhat salty taste or smell. 2. Distasteful; unpalatable: Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : When the word brackish first appeared in English in the 1500s,
Karl du Fresne writes about the po-faced, weirdo, wowsers starting to infiltrate our supermarkets while annoying good, normal, meat-eating, Kiwi shoppers: My wife and I don’t always agree about things – just choosing a paint colour for the bathroom can take months. But we celebrated a moment of instant accord
The word for today is… augur (verb) – 1. One of a group of ancient Roman religious officials who foretold events by observing and interpreting signs and omens. 2. A seer or prophet; a soothsayer. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Auguring is what augurs did in ancient Rome. Augurs were official
The word for today is… adscititious (adj) – Not inherent or essential; derived from something outside. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Adscititious comes from a very “knowledgeable” family—it ultimately derives from sc?scere, the Latin verb meaning “to get to know, ascertain, vote for, approve.” The related sc?re means
The word for today is… tortuous (adj) – Circuitous; devious; full of twists, turns, or bends. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Be careful not to confuse tortuous with torturous. These two words are relatives—both ultimately come from the Latin verb torquere, which means “to twist,” “to wind,” or “to wrench”
The word for today is… sporadic (adj) – 1. Occurring at irregular intervals or in isolated or scattered places; having no pattern or order. 2. (Medicine) Not epidemic, endemic, or inherited. Used of a disease or condition. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Sporadic describes the distribution of something across space or
The word for today is… misnomer (noun) – 1. An error in naming a person or place. 2. (a) Application of a wrong name. (b) A name wrongly or unsuitably applied to a person or object. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : What’s in a name? Well, in some cases, a
The word for today is… hiatus (noun) – 1. A gap or interruption in space, time, or continuity; a break. 2. (Linguistics) A slight pause that occurs when two immediately adjacent vowels in consecutive syllables are pronounced, as in reality and naive. 3. (Anatomy) A separation, aperture, fissure, or short passage
The word for today is… excursion (noun) – 1. A usually short journey made for pleasure; an outing. 1. A roundtrip in a passenger vehicle at a special low fare. 2. A group taking a short pleasure trip together. 3. A diversion or deviation from a main topic; a digression. 4.
