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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

invigilate
Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:15:01 -0500
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 04, 2009 is: invigilate • \in-VIJ-uh-layt\  • verb : to keep watch : supervise, monitor Example sentence: Theodore sat in his favorite chair on the back deck, sipped his coffee, and invigilated the activities of his grandchildren as they played in the yard. Did you know? Keep your eyes open and you're sure to spot a few relatives of today's word. "Invigilate" is a descendant of the Latin verb "vigilare," meaning "to stay awake." As you may have guessed, "vigilare" is the ancestor of our adjective "vigilant" ("alertly watchful"), and it also gives us "reveille" ("a signal to wake up in the morning," via French "reveiller") and "surveillance" ("close watch, supervision," via French "survéiller"). "Invigilate" has been a part of the English language since the mid-16th century.
zeugma
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:15:01 -0500
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 03, 2009 is: zeugma • \ZOOG-muh\  • noun : the use of a word to modify two or more words in such a way that it applies to each in a different sense or makes sense with only one Example sentence: "Torpedoes hit their mark! Ship and many hopes sink!" said the headline, employing vivid zeugma. Did you know? "Zeugma, like the pun, is economical: it contracts two sentences into one . . . it links unrelated terms -- mental with moral, abstract with physical, high with low -- and thus generates surprise." (Walter Redfern, Puns) "Zeugma," which has been a part of the English language since the 15th century, comes from Greek, where it literally means "joining." The Greek word has another connection to English as well. In the early 1970s, a chemistry professor named Paul Lauterbur developed a technique for producing images of internal organs. He called it "zeugmatography," because it involved the joining of magnetic fields. Lauterbur was awarded a Nobel Prize, but the name he chose didn’t stick. The technique is known today as magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI.
abject
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:15:01 -0500
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 02, 2009 is: abject • \AB-jekt\  • adjective 1 : sunk to or existing in a low state or condition *2 : very low in spirit or hope : wretched 3 : expressing or offered in a humble and often ingratiating spirit Example sentence: Morris was in an abject and lonely state after Olivia left him -- but then he met Penny and his world brightened again. Did you know? "Abject" comes from "abjectus," the past participle of the Latin verb "abicere," meaning "to cast off." Its original meaning in English was "cast off" or "rejected," but it is now used to refer more broadly to things in a low state or condition. "Abject" shares with "mean," "ignoble," and "sordid" the sense of being below the normal standards of human decency and dignity. "Abject" may imply degradation, debasement, or servility ("abject poverty"). "Mean" suggests having such repellent characteristics as small-mindedness, ill temper, or cupidity ("mean and petty satire"). "Ignoble" suggests a loss or lack of some essential high quality of mind or spirit ("an ignoble scramble after material possessions"). "Sordid" is stronger than all of these in stressing physical or spiritual degradation and lowness ("a sordid story of murder and revenge"). *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
periphrasis
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:15:01 -0500
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 01, 2009 is: periphrasis • \puh-RIFF-ruh-sis\  • noun 1 : use of a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter form of expression *2 : an instance of periphrasis Example sentence: The college English teacher warned her students against padding their essays with periphrases solely to reach the required length. Did you know? It's easy enough to point out the origins of "periphrasis": the word was borrowed into English in the early 16th century via Latin from Greek "periphrazein," which in turn comes from the prefix "peri-," meaning "all around," and the verb "phrazein," "to point out." Two common descendants of "phrazein" in English are "phrase" and "paraphrase," the latter of which combines "phrazein" with the prefix "para-," meaning "closely resembling." Another "phrazein" descendant is the less familiar word "holophrasis," meaning "the expression of a complex of ideas in a single word or in a fixed phrase." (The prefix "holo-" can mean "completely.") *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
oenophile
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:15:01 -0500
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 30, 2009 is: oenophile • \EE-nuh-fyle\  • noun : a lover or connoisseur of wine Example sentence: Only an astute oenophile like Simon would know that 2002 was not the best year for that particular Barolo. Did you know? "It has become quite a common proverb that in wine there is truth," wrote the 1st-century A.D. Roman scholar, Pliny the Elder. The truth about the word "wine" is that it goes back to Latin "vinum," but it is also a distant relative of the Greek word for wine, which is "oinos." Indeed, Latin borrowed from the Greek to create a combining form that means "wine," "oeno-." Modern French speakers combined "oeno-" with "-phile" (Greek for "lover of") to create "oenophile" before we adopted it from them around 1930. Etymologically-inclined oenophiles are sure to know that "oenology," for the science of wine making, and "oenologist," for one versed in oenology (more often spelled "enology" and "enologist") also trace back to the Greek root.
skimble-skamble
Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:15:01 -0500
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 29, 2009 is: skimble-skamble • \skim-bul-SKAM-bul\  • adjective : rambling and confused : senseless Example sentence: "What a lark it is to tag along after constantly astonished Alice as she meets up with all those skimble-skamble Lewis Carroll creations," raved one theater critic of an adaptation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Did you know? One of the best examples of "skimble-skamble" used in context is also its first known use. It occurs in Shakespeare's Henry IV when Hotspur speaks of Mortimer's father: "Sometimes he angers me / With telling me of the moldwarp and the ant, / Of the dreamer Merlin and his prophecies, / And of a dragon and a finless fish… / And such a deal of skimble-skamble stuff…." After reading Hotspur's rambling, we can clearly understand the word's meaning, but from whence did the Bard come up with the word? More than likely, he coined the word as a reduplication of "scamble," a word meaning "to stumble along" that was widely used during his time but is now only heard in some English dialects.

MedTerms Word of the Day

Alstrom syndrome
Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700
Alstrom syndrome: A progressive genetic disorder characterized by obesity, deafness, and visual problems in childhood and diabetes with insulin resistance (type 2 diabetes) and kidney failure in adulthood. Individuals with Alstrom syndrome have been identified in over 20 countries. Although the syndrome is generally rare, it is unusually frequent among Acadians, both those living in Nova Scotia and those in Louisiana. The syndrome first described by C.H. Alstrom in Sweden in 1959. (It should therefore have two dots over the "o".) The earliest sign of the syndrome in infancy is often extreme light sensitivity (photophobia) and a wobbling of the eyes (nystagmus). Another of the early signs may be dilated cardiomyopathy (enlarged heart) and congestive heart failure in infants under 1 year of age. Infants with the syndrome gain excessive weight during the first year of life and become obese. Multiple organ systems later can be affected, resulting in blindness, hearing impairment, type 2 diabetes, heart failure, liver disease, urological dysfunction, pulmonary fibrosis, and renal failure. Additional features in some cases include hypothyroidism, male hypogonadism, short stature and mild to moderate developmental delay and the complications of type 2 diabetes such as hyperlipidemia (high lipids) and atherosclerosis. The visual defect involves cone-rod retinal dystrophy. Alstrom syndrome is an autosomal recessive condition. Both parents carry one copy of the Alstrom gene and each of their offspring has a 25% risk of inheriting both of their Alstrom genes and of therefore having the syndrome. The gene for Alstrom syndrome is on chromosome 2 in band 2p13. The gene called ALMS1. Alstrom syndrome is also known as Alstrom syndrome, Alstrom-Hallgren syndrome, and Alstrom-Hallgren syndrome. MedTerms (TM) is the Medical Dictionary of MedicineNet.com.We Bring Doctors' Knowledge To You

 

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