Table of Contents
The word for today is…
tousle (verb, noun):
verb
: dishevel, rumple
noun
1 Scotland : rough dalliance : tussle
2 : a tangled mass (as of hair)
Source : Merriam -Webster
Etymology : Tousle is a word that has been through what linguists call a “functional shift.” That’s a fancy way of saying it was originally one part of speech, then gradually came to have an additional function. Tousle started out as a verb back in the 15th century. By the late 19th century, it was also being used as a noun meaning “a tangled mass (as of hair).” Etymologists connect the word to an Old High German word meaning “to pull to pieces.”
If you enjoyed this BFD word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends and, especially, your children.
