The word for today is… categorical (adjective): 1: absolute, unqualified 2a: of, relating to, or constituting a category b: involving, according with, or considered with respect to specific categories Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The ancestor of categorical and category has been important in logic and philosophy since the days of
The word for today is… manifesto (noun, verb): noun : a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer verb : to issue a manifesto Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Manifesto is related to manifest, which occurs in English as a noun, verb, and adjective. Of these, the adjective,
The word for today is… discipline (noun, verb): noun 1a: control gained by enforcing obedience or order b: orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior c: self-control 2: punishment 3: training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character 4: a field of study 5:
The word for today is… euphoria (noun): : a feeling of well-being or elation Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Health and happiness are often linked, sometimes even in etymologies. Nowadays euphoria generally refers to happiness, but it derives from euphoros, a Greek word that means "healthy." Given that root,
The word for today is… palaver (noun): 1a: a long parley usually between persons of different cultures or levels of sophistication b: conference, discussion 2a: idle talk b: misleading or beguiling speech Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Though the word comes from Portuguese, it likely entered English by way of the
The word for today is… betwixt (adverb or preposition): : between Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Today's word merits a WOTD spot not because of its meaning but because it is neither a noun, adjective or verb (by far the most common varieties of candidates - obviously). Even better, it can
The word for today is… appreciable (adjective): : capable of being perceived or measured Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Appreciable, like the verb appreciate, comes from the Late Latin verb appretiare ("to appraise" or "to put a price on"). It is one of several English adjectives that can
The word for today is… eldritch (adjective): : strange or unnatural especially in a way that inspires fear : weird, eerie Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Curse, cobweb, witch, ghost - potentially spooky words all have roots in Old English. Eldritch, although less common, is another, hailing from a time when otherworldly beings were
The word for today is… immense (adjective): 1: marked by greatness especially in size or degree, especially transcending ordinary means of measurement 2: supremely good Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Just how big is something if it is immense? Huge? Colossal? Humongous? Ginormous? Or merely enormous? Immense is often used as
The word for today is… motif (noun): 1: a usually recurring salient thematic element (as in the arts), especially a dominant idea or central theme 2: a single or repeated design or color 3 biochemistry : a distinctive, usually recurrent, molecular sequence (as of amino acids or base pairs) or structural
The word for today is… fugacious (adjective): : lasting a short time : evanescent Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Fugacious is often used to describe immaterial things like emotions, but not always. Botanists, for example, use it to describe plant parts that wither or fall off before the usual time. Things that are
The word for today is… taciturn (adjective): : temperamentally disinclined to talk Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Taciturn shows up in English in the first half of the 18th century. James Miller, a British clergyman educated at Oxford, gives an early example of its use in his 1734 satiric drama, wherein a
The word for today is… ideate (verb): : to form an idea Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Like idea and ideal, ideate comes from the Greek verb idein, which means "to see." The sight-thought connection came courtesy of Plato, the Greek philosopher who based his theory of the ideal
The word for today is… verbatim (adverb, adjective): adverb : in the exact words : word for word adjective : being in or following the exact words : word-for-word Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Always good to see an adverb crop up in this series. English is rich with Latin descendants. While most
The word for today is… scapegoat (noun, verb): noun 1: a goat upon whose head are symbolically placed the sins of the people after which he is sent into the wilderness in the biblical ceremony for Yom Kippur 2a: one that bears the blame for others b: one that is
The word for today is… numinous (adjective): 1: supernatural, mysterious 2: filled with a sense of the presence of divinity : holy 3: appealing to the higher emotions or to the aesthetic sense : spiritual Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : When people of the 1600s were ruminating on an adjective to reflect their
