Skip to content

Table of Contents

The word for today is…

dauntless (adjective):

: incapable of being intimidated or subdued

Source : Merriam -Webster

Etymology:Human history teems with dauntless people, doughty folks who refused to be cowed or subdued, even if armed with nothing but the courage of their convictions. The existence of dauntless raises this question: can one be full of daunt? Not anymore—the noun daunt, meaning “discouragement” or “intimidation,” has been obsolete for centuries, though dauntless remains as a clue to its past use. But daunt is (and has been since the 14th century) a verb; we define it as “to lessen the courage of; to cow or subdue.” Introduced via Anglo-French, its ultimate source lies in the Latin verb domare, meaning “to tame” or “to subdue.” The idea of being subdued persists in today’s daunt, but the idea of being tamed was formerly present too: until at least the 16th century, horses trained to behave in ways useful to humans—that is, horses that were broken—could be said to be “daunted.” Not until the late 16th century did we use undaunted with the meaning “undiscouraged and courageously resolute” to describe people. By then, such lionhearted souls could also be described as “undauntable” as well as “dauntless.”

If you enjoyed this BFD word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends and, especially, your children.

Latest

Face of the Day

Face of the Day

Kapa-Kingi said since returning to parliament, all the she had received from party co-leader Rāwiri Waititi was a text message asking if she would be available for a short, 10-minute kōrero, and had not spoken to the party’s president John Tamihere since November 2025.

Members Public
The Good Oil Word of the Day

The Good Oil Word of the Day

The word for today is… concomitant (adjective, noun) - adjective : accompanying especially in a subordinate or incidental way noun : something that accompanies or is collaterally connected with something else : accompaniment Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Concomitant was introduced into English at a time when many people were criticizing the use of Latinate

Members Public