The word for today is… accoutrement (noun): 1a: equipment, trappings specifically : a soldier’s outfit usually not including clothes and weapons – usually used in plural b: an accessory item of clothing or equipment 2: an identifying and often superficial characteristic or device Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Accoutrement and its rarer
The word for today is… gainsay (verb): 1: to declare to be untrue or invalid 2: contradict, oppose Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :You might have trouble figuring out the meaning of gainsay if you’re thinking of our modern word gain plus say. It should help to know that the
The word for today is… corporal (noun, adjective, noun): noun (1) : a noncommissioned officer ranking in the army above a lance corporal and below a sergeant adjective : of, relating to, or affecting the body noun (2) : a linen cloth on which the eucharistic elements are placed Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology
The word for today is… ineluctable (adjective): : not to be avoided, changed, or resisted : inevitable Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Ineluctable has its roots in wrestling, a popular sport in ancient Greece and Rome. The Latin word lucator means “wrestler,” and luctari means “to wrestle,” as well as “to struggle, strive,
The word for today is… oblivion (noun): 1: the fact or condition of not remembering : a state marked by lack of awareness or consciousness 2: the condition or state of being forgotten or unknown Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :The word’s Latin source, oblivisci, means “to forget; to put out
The word for today is… dox (verb – informal): : to publicly identify or publish private information about (someone) especially as a form of punishment or revenge Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Dox is a respelling of docs, plural of doc (short for document), verbal derivative based on earlier dropping docs, doc-dropping, etc.
The word for today is… putative (adjective): 1: commonly accepted or supposed 2: assumed to exist or to have existed Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Putative comes from Latin putatus, the past participle of the verb putare, which means “to consider” or “to think.” Putative has been part of English since
The word for today is… undulate (adjective, verb): adjective (or undulated) : having a wavy surface, edge, or markings verb 1: to form or move in waves 2: to rise and fall in volume, pitch, or cadence 3: to present a wavy appearance Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology :Undulate and inundate (“to cover
The word for today is… morass (noun): 1: marsh, swamp 2a: a situation that traps, confuses, or impedes b: an overwhelming or confusing mass or mixture Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Morass comes from the Dutch word moeras, which itself derives from an Old French word, maresc, meaning “marsh.” Morass has
The word for today is… fiduciary (adjective, noun): adjective : of, relating to, or involving a confidence or trust noun : one that holds a fiduciary relation or acts in a fiduciary capacity Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Fiduciary relationships are often of the financial variety, but the word fiduciary does not, in
The word for today is… compadre (noun): : a close friend Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :In Spanish, a child’s godfather is known as the child’s compadre, but in English the word refers simply to a close friend. Like amigo, Spanish compadre is a masculine term; the equivalent feminine term
Alex Lo Senior Lecturer in Climate Change Victoria University of Wellington Faith Chan Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences University of Nottingham Two extreme and deadly weather events within the first two months of 2023 have brought the consequences of climate change into sharp focus. Auckland’s January 27 flood is
Mark Bloomberg Adjunct Senior Fellow Te Kura Ngahere – New Zealand School of Forestry University of Canterbury The severe impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle on the North Island, and the five severe weather events experienced by the Thames–Coromandel region in just the first two months of 2023, are merely the latest
The word for today is… imbue (verb): 1: endow 2: to permeate or influence as if by dyeing 3: to tinge or dye deeply Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Like its synonym infuse, imbue implies the introduction of one thing into another so as to affect it throughout. Someone’s voice
The word for today is… bravado (noun): 1a: blustering swaggering conduct b: a pretense of bravery 2: the quality or state of being foolhardy Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Displays of bravado may be show-offish, daring, reckless, and inconsistent with good sense—take, for example, the spectacular feats of stuntpeople—but
Right to Life News righttolife.org.uk A professor from Yale University has suggested that the solution to Japan’s rapidly ageing population is “mass suicide and mass ‘seppuku’” of the elderly. Seppuku was an act of ritual suicide among samurai in the 19th century. Japan faces potentially serious societal
