The WordSmart WordCast

APIARY: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:15:43 -0500

A group of hives for bees, place where bees are kept, boxes made to house swarms of bees and to store their honey. An APIARY is thought by 25% of adult readers to be a SUMMIT, doubtless a confusion of APIARY, beehive, with APEX, peak, summit, top of a mountain. By another 18% of adult readers APIARY is thought to mean BIRDHOUSE, a confusion of APIARY, beehouse, with AVIARY, a birdhouse, bird sanctuary. APIARY comes from the Latin APIARIUM, a beehouse, beehive, from APIS, a bee. The Latin ending -ARIUM, a place where something is kept, easily translated as house, appears in SOLARIUM, loosely a sunhouse, and in AQUARIUM, a water-house. The same ending becomes -ARY in words of earlier English adoption, as: LIBRARY, a book-house, and APIARY, a beehouse.

ABBEY: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:33:33 -0500

A group of buildings where monks live under a head, monastery, convent, cloister; loosely, the church of an ABBEY. The word ABBEY goes back through Middle English to the Latin ABBAS, an abbot, the head of an ABBEY, and still further to the earlier ABBA, father, a Latin title for any monk, from the Greek ABBA, father, used as an invocation to the Deity. The words ABBEY, CONVENT, and MONASTERY, have today different connotations, but in medieval times were closer. CONVENT comes from the Latin CONVENTUS, a meeting, assembly, from the verb CONVENIRE, to come together. A CONVENT was originally an assembly, a meaning now restricted to the word CONVENTION, from the same source. A CONVENT then came to be any community of persons devoted to a religious life, either monks or nuns, ABBEY, MONASTERY, or NUNNERY. Today CONVENT designates a building or community exclusively for women. A MONASTERY is a community for men. An ABBEY may be for men or women. In the middle ages, when women, NUNS, made up the inhabitants, the head of an ABBEY was an ABBESS; when men, MONKS, were the inmates, the head was an ABBOT. FOUNTAINS ABBEY, in Yorkshire, in the north of England, today a picturesque ruin, was built in 1132, and consisted of a group of buildings resembling a tiny, self-contained village with a church as the main feature. The best known by name today is probably WESTMINSTER ABBEY in London, founded in 960. This also was originally a group of buildings, parts of which still remain, although now the term WESTMINSTER ABBEY is interpreted by almost everyone as referring specifically to the ABBEY church, where English kings and queens are still crowned and where many of England's notables are buried.

LACONIC: (adj.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 8 May 2009 19:00:53 -0500

Concise, brief, succinct, terse, pithy, sententious, using few words. Previous to the Peloponnesian War, which lasted from 431 B.C. to 404 B.C., the PELOPONNESUS, the southern peninsula of Greece, was divided into seven or eight countries. The inhabitants of one of these countries, LACONIA, were noted for their brevity of speech. The adjective LACONIC, now spelled with a small letter, means like a LACONIAN in speech, of few words, brief, sententious. LACONIA was captured by the SPARTANS and became known as SPARTA. The SPARTANS were noted for their rigid discipline, and the adjective SPARTAN, still spelled with a capital, means extreme, rigid, as: "SPARTAN endurance," "SPARTAN simplicity." Another adjective from the Peloponnesus is ARCADIAN. ARCADIA was a mountainous country in the center of the Peloponnesus. Its inhabitants were simple, rustic folk; and ARCADIAN, spelled with a capital, means simple, rustic, pastoral. In the test phrase: "A LACONIC answer," the word is thought by 6 percent of high school juniors to mean JOKING, perhaps because of some confusion with COMIC. The adjective COMIC comes through the Latin COMICUS, from the Greek adjective COMICOS, festivity, revelry. Today COMIC is sometimes the adjective which corresponds to COMEDY, as in the phrase: COMIC OPERA; and is used sometimes for COMICAL, funny, droll, ludicrous, facetious, exciting merriment. By another 5 percent LACONIC is thought to mean COMPLETE, an idea embodied in LACONIC. While MEAGER, PERFUNCTORY, and SKETCHY, suggest short and incomplete, LACONIC suggests short and complete, brief but sufficient.

PROTAGONIST: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 8 May 2009 19:01:45 -0500

One who fills the prominent part in a drama, chief actor in a theater, leader in a great enterprise, principal mover, chief supporter of a cause, central figure in some important movement, champion, star, chief, advocate, hero or heroine. An unusual English word AGONIST means one who contends in public games, champion, combatant, sometimes an actor. AGONIST comes through the Latin from the Greek AGONISTES, contestant, actor, pleader. This comes in turn from the Greek AGON, a contest for a prize, also the place of contest, assembly. From this comes the English noun AGONY, originally a violent struggle, now intense pain, extreme suffering. PROTAGONIST comes from the Greek PROTAGONISTES, chief actor, a combination of the Greek PROTOS, first, and AGONISTES, combatant, actor. In Greek drama the PROTAGONIST was the leading actor. "An active PROTAGONIST" is thought by 26% of adult readers, and by 21% of high-vocabulary ones, to be an ADVERSARY, a confusion of PROTAGONIST with ANTAGONIST. An ANTAGONIST is one who contends against another in combat, opponent, competitor, rival, ADVERSARY. ANTAGONIST starts with the Greek ANTI, against, and means one who contends against a cause, and in this sense is an opposite of PROTAGONIST, one who contends for a cause.

HARMONY: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:39:58 -0500

Sympathy, concord, agreement, correspondence, congruity, just adaptation of parts to each other, conformity of natural temperament, tranquillity, internal calm. In the test phrase: "Living in HARMONY," the word is thought by 28% of elementary school students to mean SECLUSION, solitude, privacy, separation from society. SECLUSION designates that one is alone; SECLUSION removes the distractions of society. In Greek mythology the goddess HARMONIA personified music. She was the daughter of ARES, god of war, and APHRODITE, goddess of love. She was the wife of CADMUS, founder of Thebes, who is said to have given the alphabet to the Greeks. The Greek word HARMONIA meant music, concord, a pleasing combination of sounds.

METAPHYSICS: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Mon, 8 Jun 2009 13:52:02 -0500

Abstruse philosophy concerned with the essential nature of life, theoretical study of the essence of things, interpretation of the doctrine of human value, rational theology, speculative science of the absolute, study of the innermost and highest secrets of being, doctrine of the true meaning of life. Tradition relates that Aristotle at his death left his written works to a pupil who in turn bequeathed them to a younger member of the peripatetic school. They subsequently disappeared for nearly two hundred years. Upon rediscovery, they were arranged in the form in which they now appear, and were published about 50 B.C. by Andronicus of Rhodes. Andronicus was the first to use the word METAPHYSICS as the title of the section that deals with the nature of God, which follows the section on PHYSICS. Some translate the Greek META as AFTER, and METAPHYSICS as AFTER PHYSICS, the subject that followed PHYSICS in Aristotle's works. Others interpret META as BEYOND, and METAPHYSICS as dealing with subjects beyond the scope of PHYSICS. Less than a hundred years ago, that field of knowledge now called PHYSICS was known as NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. The word PHYSICS comes from the Greek PHYSIS, nature. PHYSICS is today that branch of science that treats of inorganic nature, the study of forces. The word METAPHYSICS is thought by 35 percent of adult readers to mean SCIENCE. SCIENCE and METAPHYSICS are today the two great branches of PHILOSOPHY. The word PHILOSOPHY comes from the Greek PHILOSOPHIA, love of knowledge and wisdom, a combination of PHILEIN, to love, and SOPHIA, wisdom, skill, art. PHILOSOPHY should designate organized knowledge, all truth known to man, the sum of man's contemplations and accumulated experiences. The word SCIENCE comes from the Latin SCIENTIA, science, knowledge, from SCIENS, SCIENTIS, the present participle of SCIRE, to know. SCIENCE now designates that branch of systematized knowledge gained from observation and experiment. SCIENCE rests upon empirical data, on observation, experimentation, and carefully accumulated measurements. METAPHYSICS is that branch of philosophy or systematized knowledge that deals with final causes not directly susceptible to observation and laboratory experiments. Two branches of METAPHYSICS are: ONTOLOGY, a study of the ultimate problems of being, doctrine of the essence of existence; and EPISTEMOLOGY, theory and study of the problems of human knowledge. Since the recrudescence of the scientific method, beginning with Francis Bacon, 1561 to 1626, often called the herald of modern science, METAPHYSICS has been limited to theoretical speculations remote from observation and experimental verification.

PERJURE: (v.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:32:13 -0500

To swear falsely, lie under oath, bear false witness, forswear. PERJURE is from the Latin PER and JURARE, to swear, the source of the English word JURY, a body of persons sworn to give a true verdict; and the more unusual verb to ADJURE, to beseech, beg, entreat, charge earnestly, bind solemnly by oath; and ADJURATION, the corresponding noun. To PERJURE is technical and means to be guilty of swearing falsely to an oath to tell the truth in judicial proceedings. The word is ordinarily used reflexively, as: "The witness PERJURED himself."

TOURNAMENT: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:29:58 -0500

A contest of skill, encounter, tourney, often a series of contests in which a number of persons take part. "He will enter the TOURNAMENT." TOURNAMENT, TOURNEY, JOUST, and TILT, are all words dating from the Middle Ages and describe activities in existence as early as King Arthur's time, about the sixth century. All designate contests of men on horseback, armed with swords, lances, maces, and blunted weapons. A TILT was a charge, usually on horseback, with a spear, against a single antagonist, or against a mark called a QUINTAIN. The word QUINTAIN is used both for the target and for the exercise of tilting at a target. A JOUST was a duel on horseback, a single combat between two men, often a part of a TOURNAMENT. According to the OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY, "the historical English spelling from the 13th century is JUST. . . . Under later French influence, JOUST was used sometimes by Gower, Caxton, Spenser, and Milton, was preferred by Johnson, and used by Scott; but the pronunciation remained as in the historical spelling." Today the spelling JOUST is generally accepted, and the pronunciation JOUST is considered best. JOUST is also acceptable, and the recent JOUST is often heard. TOURNEY and TOURNAMENT are practically synonymous. Both words come from the French verb TOURNER, to turn, from the same original source as the English word TURN. TOURNEYS and TOURNAMENTS were both combats between groups rather than between individuals; both comprised a series of events. Today the word TOURNAMENT is used in a figurative sense to mean any trial of skill, not necessarily athletic, in which there is a series of contests, as: "A tennis TOURNAMENT," "A chess TOURNAMENT."

REQUIEM: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 8 May 2009 19:01:11 -0500

Funeral hymn, dirge, solemn chant for the repose of the soul, special mass for the dead. REQUIEM was originally a Latin word, the accusative of the Latin noun REQUIES, rest, a combination of the Latin RE-, again, and QUIES, quiet, rest. REQUIEM is the first word of the Latin text: "Requiem aeternum dona eis, Domine," "Rest eternal give them, Lord," a part of the funeral service for the dead. As DIRGE, the first word of another Latin text, has come in English to mean a song of mourning, so REQUIEM designates loosely a funeral mass.

CHECK: (v.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:14:52 -0500

To stop, stay, hold back, arrest, inhibit, put a sudden restraint upon, retard, hinder, impede. "They CHECKED the enemy." The verb to CHECK was first used in the game of chess and meant to attack, to threaten, the king. The word can be traced back, as can also the word CHESS, to the Persian word for king. All of the modern meanings of the word CHECK have developed from its use in the game of CHESS.

PRESSURE: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:45:10 -0500

Urgency, necessity for prompt and decisive action, exigency, need for dispatch, impelling demand on one's time or energies, as of affairs or business. "Working under PRESSURE." Urgency is only one of many meanings for PRESSURE, which dates back in English to the 14th century, and comes from the same source as the verb to PRESS, to weigh upon, bear down upon, compress, squeeze. In its simplest sense, PRESSURE is the act of pressing, squeezing, compression, as the PRESSURE of a handshake. In another sense, PRESSURE is a painful pressing upon the mind or feelings, oppression, stress, burden, weight, as: "The PRESSURE of the job." The idea of pressing, squeezing, bearing down upon, is central to yet another meaning of PRESSURE, a constraining or compelling influence, as: "Social and political PRESSURE." The English ending -URE comes from the Latin -URA. This ending was added to Latin verbs to make the feminine form of the future participle. The future participle became in turn a feminine noun to designate the result of the action of the verb. The Latin verb PRESSARE means to press, crowd, jam. It is the frequentative formed from the past participle PRESSUS of the more familiar verb PREMERE, to press. The future participle and the corresponding noun are PRESSURA, a pressure, burden, load. From this comes the English noun PRESSURE. Other English nouns come from Latin in the same way. The Latin verb SCRIBERE means to write. From this comes the future participle and noun SCRIPTURA; and from this the English word SCRIPTURE, by derivation anything written. Spelled with a capital, and often in the plural, THE SCRIPTURES, the word means the writings of the Old and New Testaments, the Bible. The Latin verb APERIRE means to open. The future participle and corresponding noun APERTURA, an opening, hole, becomes in English APERTURE, an opening, hole. The Latin verb TEXERE means to weave. From this comes the future participle and noun TEXTURA, and the English TEXTURE, a weaving, something woven, a cloth, fabric, or now more frequently the way in which something is woven, the kind of weave, the characteristics of the cloth. From each of these Latin verbs come many English words. From PREMERE, to press, come not only PRESSURE and the verb to PRESS, but also the verbs to COMPRESS, to press together, push together, condense, make smaller, consolidate; to DEPRESS, to press down, push down; to IMPRESS, to press into so as to leave a mark; to REPRESS, to push back; and to OPPRESS, used figuratively to mean press down with burdens, as: "To OPPRESS a people with heavy taxes." The terms PRESSURE and FORCE are confused by four percent of students. The word FORCE comes from the Latin FORTIS, strong, powerful. From the same Latin source come also the two nouns FORT and FORTRESS, both by derivation strong places. The word FORCE is used in literature to mean power, strength, might, vigor, both mental and physical. The FORCE of a blow is its power, might; a personality with FORCE has strength, vigor. FORCE is the general term for power, strength, vigor; PRESSURE is a more specific term for the action of force. Joseph Worcester's DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, 1884, defines PRESSURE as: "Force acting against any thing; weight acting or resisting." PRESSURE, then, is the weight or severity of a FORCE, power, that is to some extent constant or continuously applied, and may also be either physical, as: "The PRESSURE of his grip," or mental, as: "The PRESSURE of city life," its weight upon the mind, oppressiveness, onerousness. FORCE may also mean power exerted against will or consent, coercion, violence, as: "To rule by FORCE"; or power to convince, as: "The FORCE of an argument." PRESSURE is the application of moral FORCE, power, in order to constrain or compel; it is the forceful exertion of authority or influence, as: "To put PRESSURE on a group to make it act." In physics, PRESSURE and FORCE are again related. FORCE is that which causes a change in the speed or direction of motion of a body. Gravity is a FORCE. CENTRIPETAL FORCE, from the Latin CENTRUM, center, and PETERE, to make for, head for, go to, makes a body go to a center. CENTRIFUGAL FORCE, from the same CENTRUM, center, and FUGERE, to flee, makes a body fly away from a center. PRESSURE is the amount of FORCE exerted on any unit area. Divide the total FORCE by the area over which the FORCE acts and you have the PRESSURE. Atmospheric PRESSURE, the weight of the air, is 15 pounds per square inch at the surface of the earth. The metric system measures FORCE in grams or dynes; the English system, in pounds, or in the less familiar unit, poundals. The metric system measures PRESSURE in grams per square centimeter or dynes per square centimeter; the English system, in pounds per square foot or pounds per square inch, or in poundals per square foot or poundals per square inch.

STENTORIAN: (adj.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 8 May 2009 19:01:23 -0500

Extremely loud, emphatic, powerful in tone, full, carrying, lion-voiced, of great volume. The Greek STENTOR was the proper name of a Greek herald in the Trojan War. There was a Greek adjective, spelled with a capital, STENTOREIOS. This became STENTOREUS in Latin, and the rarely used STENTORIOUS in English. The adjective STENTORIAN, made from the proper name STENTOR plus the ending -IAN, is more common. In the test phrase: "STENTORIAN voices," the word is thought by 15% of adult readers, and by 13% of high-vocabulary ones, to mean DRAMATIC. The adjective DRAMATIC comes from the Greek adjective DRAMATIKOS, dramatic. This comes from the Greek DRAMA, DRAMATIS, originally a deed, action, and then a deed played on the stage. The English adjective DRAMATIC may mean pertaining to drama, as in the phrase: "DRAMATIC literature," but more often implies animated, forceful, expressive, appealing, histrionic, having the qualities of a great theatrical production. DRAMATIC voices may be full, carrying, even powerful in tone; but DRAMATIC implies much more than mere volume of sound, which is the only meaning of STENTORIAN.

TYRO: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:40:15 -0500

Novice, beginner in learning, neophyte, one imperfectly acquainted with any subject, apprentice, greenhorn, freshman. In the test phrase: "A regular TYRO," it is thought by 35% of adult readers in general, and by 31% of high-vocabulary ones, to mean DESPOT. This is undoubtedly a confusion of TYRO, novice, with TYRANT, despot, oppressor, absolute ruler, one who governs in accordance with his own will. The proper name NERO, the notorious Roman Emperor, 54 to 68 A.D., may add to the confusion. TYRO comes from the Latin TIRO, a raw recruit, newly levied soldier, beginner in learning, novice. In medieval Latin this word was spelled TYRO, and English has generally followed this spelling. But the OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY prefers TIRO, as does H.W. Fowler, and the CENTURY DICTIONARY calls it the correct form. TIROCINIUM, always spelled with an I and a small T, comes directly from the Latin TIROCINIUM, the state of a recruit, inexperience, rawness, and means in English the first service of a soldier, hence, first experience or training in anything, apprenticeship, novitiate. A TYRO today is a beginner, one who starts learning.

APEX: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:00:12 -0500

Highest point, tip, peak, top, vertex, zenith, summit, pinnacle, apogee, acme. In the test phrase: "The APEX of her career," the word is believed by 1% of adult readers to mean AIM. The AIM is that point towards which one strives, but which one may never reach; the APEX, in this phrase, is the highest point actually reached.

TERMAGANT: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:45:14 -0500

A scolding, overbearing woman, shrew, virago, vixen, boisterous and turbulent female, a Xanthippe. "An enormous TERMAGANT" is thought by 32% of adult readers, and by 46% of high-vocabulary ones, to be a WHITE ANT. This is obviously a confusion of TERMAGANT, scolding or boisterous woman, with TERMITE. The TERMITE, popularly called the WHITE ANT, is an insect belonging to the order ISOPTERA, an order of social insects living in large nests, soft-bodied, and pale in color. The true ants, also social insects, belong to the order HYMENOPTERA. TERMITES cause immense damage by gnawing away wooden structures. TERMAGANT started as a proper name. In the mystery plays of medieval Christendom, TERMAGANT was the name of an imaginary, violent, overbearing deity, supposed to have been worshiped by the Mohammedans. From this, TERMAGANT, spelled with a small letter, came to designate any loud-mouthed, overbearing person. Today the word TERMAGANT applies exclusively to a scolding woman. Brewer, in his DICTIONARY OF PHRASE AND FABLE, explains the change in sex as arising from the custom of representing the god TERMAGANT on the stage in Eastern robes, like those worn by females.

GRAPHIC: (adj.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:41:47 -0500

Vivid, clearly and effectively described, well-drawn, represented with accuracy, well-delineated, giving a clear and effective picture; the OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY says: "Producing by words the effect of a picture." The etymology of GRAPHIC shows how the word is connected to both writing and drawing. GRAPHIC comes through the French GRAPHIQUE and the Latin GRAPHICUS, relating to painting or drawing, to the Greek GRAPHE, which meant both drawing, painting, and writing, description. GRAPHE comes in turn from the verb GRAPHEIN, which originally meant to scratch, scrape, and later to represent by lines, and so to draw, paint, or write, inscribe. Because of this derivation, GRAPHIC today has meanings that apply to writing, to drawing, and that incorporate both of these ideas. GRAPHIC representation means representation in letters or characters; GRAPHIC symbols are written symbols. A GRAPHIC material is one fit to be written on, suited for writing. From 1854 comes the quotation: "I would . . . make eloquent The GRAPHIC bark of beech!" The GRAPHIC arts are those that pertain to representation on a flat surface by lines or strokes, such as drawing, painting, etching, engraving, and printmaking. LITHOGRAPHY, literally drawing or writing on stone, from the Greek LITHOS, stone, and the same GRAPHEIN, to write, draw, is a GRAPHIC art. GRAPHICS is the art of drawing, especially the precise kind of mechanical drawing, as used in engineering and architecture. In the phrase: "In GRAPHIC detail," GRAPHIC means giving the effect of a picture, well-drawn, vividly descriptive. This meaning of GRAPHIC, in use since the 17th century, unites in the English word the ideas of writing and drawing intrinsic to its Greek root, GRAPHEIN, to write, draw. GRAPHIC means literally using words to draw pictures; GRAPHIC expression is writing or language that creates vivid pictures in the mind. The syllable -GRAPH, from the same Greek source, is the so-called TERMINAL ELEMENT of many words. In the word TELEGRAPH, from the Greek TELE, afar, distant, -GRAPH means that which writes. A TELEGRAPH is an instrument that sends writing to a distant point. An AUTOGRAPH, from the Greek AUTOS, self, is literally writing by oneself, and so either a person's own handwriting, or more specifically, one's signature. In other instances the ending -GRAPH means picture. A PHOTOGRAPH, from the Greek PHOS, PHOTOS, light, is a picture made by exposure to light. GRAPHIC, VIVID, and PICTURESQUE, all refer to language that has a strong visual effect upon the mind. PICTURESQUE means like a picture or painting, abounding in rich imagery and impressions. Of the three words, PICTURESQUE is the least clear and the most personal, for it implies using words the way an artist uses paint and brush. VIVID and GRAPHIC description are both very clear. VIVID is from the Latin VIVIDUS, animated, full of life, also lifelike, true to life, and combines the two meanings of its source. VIVID means lively, full of vigor and intensity, and realistic, true to life. VIVID description is clear because it is real and forceful, often poignant in expression. GRAPHIC implies close attention to fact and details; it is clear because it is thorough and accurate, well-delineated, well-drawn. PICTURESQUE description may also be detailed, but is subjective, full of personal impressions, often charming or romantic ones. GRAPHIC description is objective, factual, and without sentiment. GRAPHIC description is less vigorous and exciting than VIVID description, but more detailed and accurate. Both produce a striking impression on the mind: GRAPHIC the more definite; VIVID the more strong.

FRUGAL: (adj.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:32:14 -0500

Avoiding waste, economical, sparing in the use of goods, thrifty, prudent, parsimonious, careful in expenditure, saving expense. The corresponding adverb is FRUGALLY, thriftily. To 7 percent of adult readers FRUGAL incorrectly means EXTRAVAGANT, an exact opposite of the correct meaning.

UKASE: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:01:15 -0500

An edict, order, command, decree, ordinance; originally, an official proclamation issued by a Russian czar or the Russian government having the force of law. The word is sometimes used loosely and humorously today to mean any grand pronouncement, authoritative statement. Nineteen percent of adult readers incorrectly believe a UKASE is a GENERALIZATION. A GENERALIZATION is an induction, inference, an assertion that what is true for a part must be true for the whole. A UKASE is an edict, decree. By another 15 percent UKASE is believed to be a STEPPE This is obviously a confusion of UKASE with UKRAINE, a republic of the Soviet Union bordering on Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Rumania, and the Black Sea. STEPPE comes from the Russian word STEPI, a waste, heath, and means a relatively level, grassy, treeless tract; the word is used specifically of any of the vast grasslands of European and Asiatic Russia. A UKASE, a FIAT, and an IRADE, are all official pronouncements. IRADE is the Turkish word for a written decree of the Sultan of Turkey; the word is now used more generally to mean a decree of any Mohammedan ruler. FIAT, which comes ultimately from the Latin FACERE, to do, make, means literally "Let it be done." A FIAT may be authoritative sanction, authorization, as: "We await the king's FIAT"; or it may be an absolute, arbitrary decree, often one which commands that something be done, or creates something which did not exist before. UKASE comes from the Russian UKAZU, an ordinance, edict. The word once meant an imperial edict of the Russian government, but now signifies any proclamation issued by a temporal authority having the power of law.

HARUSPEX: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:40:32 -0500

Soothsayer, diviner, priest, a minor priest in ancient Rome who inspected the entrails of animals killed in sacrifice and from their appearance interpreted the will of the gods. HARUSPICES, the plural, are thought by 20% of adult readers to be FEMALE SLAVES. The Turkish word HAREM is used not only for the apartments reserved for women, but also collectively for the occupants, including the wife or wives, the female relatives of the husband, and the female slaves or concubines. The HARUSPICES were fortunetellers. Cicero explains the distinction between an AUSPEX and a HARUSPEX, both priests who foretell the future. AUSPEX comes from the Latin AVIS, bird, and the Latin verb SPECERE, to see. An AUSPEX is one who foretells future events by watching the flight of birds. From the Latin AUSPEX comes AUSPICIOUS, of good omen. HARUSPEX comes from the Latin HARUSPEX, HARUSPICIS, soothsayers, minor priests of ancient Rome. The first part, HARU, comes from the Sanskrit HIRA, entrails, animal vitals; and the second part from the same Latin verb SPECERE, to see, inspect, view. A HARUSPEX foretells future events from the entrails of sacrificed animals.

TRIAL: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:31:53 -0500

An affliction, trouble, tribulation, cross, hardship, ordeal, trying circumstance. To 16 percent of elementary school students TRIAL incorrectly means TYRANT. TYRANT comes from TYRANNOS, a Greek word which originally meant master, sovereign, ruler, but which came, about 700 years before Christ, to be applied to rulers who got their power by force. At that time the so-called TYRANTS were often excellent administrators, governing with the approval of the people. But in the next 300 years power was often seized by unscrupulous men, and the word TYRANT came to have its present meaning of cruel oppressor. TRIAL comes from the Latin verb TERERE, to thresh grain, from the same source as the English word to TRY. To TRY originally meant to refine, assay, separate the good from the bad as in threshing; but is now rarely used in this sense, except in cooking, where one TRIES fat in order to purify it. To TRY more often means to make an effort, attempt, as: "TRY to do something." To TRY may also mean to put to the test, subject to an experimental treatment, as: "To TRY a new automobile." Or, to TRY may mean to examine judicially, as: "To TRY a case in court." To TRY is also to afflict, as: "To be sorely TRIED." The noun a TRY means the act of trying in its second sense, an effort, attempt. The participial adjective TRYING is used only in the fifth sense of the verb. TRYING always means severe, difficult, as: "A TRYING experience." The noun TRIAL may be used in all but the original sense of the verb to TRY. A TRIAL may mean an attempt, effort, as: "He succeeded on the third TRIAL." Or a TRIAL may be a judicial proceeding, as: "The TRIAL of a case." Or the word TRIAL may be used, as the participial adjective TRYING is always used, to mean affliction, hardship, trouble, as: "It is a great TRIAL," test of endurance.

VIGILANT: (adj.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:56:46 -0500

Watchful, wakeful, alert, attentive, heedful, wide awake, wary, observant, cautious, circumspect, as: "VIGILANT in all things." VIGILANT comes through the French VIGILANT, from the Latin VIGILANS, VIGILANTIS, watchful, wakeful, alert. This is the present participle of VIGILARE, to be awake, stay awake, be watchful. This verb VIGILARE comes from VIGIL, watchful, wakeful. Directly from this comes the English noun a VIGIL, a staying awake to keep watch, attendance without sleep, wakefulness. The Latin VIGIL comes in turn from an earlier verb VIGERE, to thrive, flourish, be vigorous. The Spanish word VIGILANTE corresponds to the English VIGILANT. This Spanish word VIGILANTE has been anglicized, taken into English, and is now pronounced VIGILANTE. It was first used as a noun in the western part of the United States to mean a member of a VIGILANCE COMMITTEE, an organization of citizens who, without proper authority, take it upon themselves to maintain order and administer summary justice in communities that lack regular or efficient courts. Theodore Roosevelt wrote: "A little over a year ago one committee of VIGILANTES shot or hung nearly sixty horse-thieves--not, however, with the best judgment in all cases."

PHOENIX: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:57:15 -0500

A fabulous bird, incomparable bird of great pulchritude found in ancient mythology, emblem of immortality; figuratively, something like or likened to the phoenix, as: a person of great distinction or matchless beauty; or a person or thing renewed or restored after apparent ruin or destruction, as when the poet Keats writes: "From the ashes of disgrace he rose . . . a fiery PHOENIX." In ancient mythology, the PHOENIX was a bird of great beauty, the only one of its kind. After living five or six hundred years in the Arabian desert, the PHOENIX built for itself a pyre of spices and aromatic gums, lighted it with the fanning of its own wings, and consumed itself. From its own ashes, the bird arose in all the freshness of youth. In heraldry, the PHOENIX is represented in the midst of ascending flames. In the phrase: "Rises like the PHOENIX," the word is thought by 20% of adult readers, and by 8% of high-vocabulary ones, to mean WINGED HORSE. This is obviously a confusion of PHOENIX, fabulous bird, with PEGASUS, the winged horse of mythology. By another 19% of general readers, and another 8% of high-vocabulary ones, the word is thought to mean EGYPTIAN MONUMENT. This is a confusion of PHOENIX with SPHINX. There are several points in common. Both are fabulous creatures. Both probably originated in Egypt and both are described by Greek writers. The SPHINX has the head and breast of a human being, originally a man and later a woman, with the body of a lion lying down. In the best known monuments there are wings. The SPHINX is said to have been a symbol of death. The PHOENIX, because it rose again from the flames, is a symbol of immortality or resurrection.

APOGEE: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Mon, 8 Jun 2009 13:50:14 -0500

Farthest point, in astronomy the point in the orbit of a heavenly body that is most distant from the earth. APOGEE comes from the Greek APO, from, and GE, the earth. By derivation, APOGEE is that point in the moon's orbit where it is farthest from the earth. PERIGEE, in like manner, is that point where the moon is nearest to the earth. PERIGEE comes from the Greek PERI, a word used to mean either near or around, and the same GE, the earth. The PERIMETER of a figure is the measure, METRON, around it, its circumference, boundary. PERIPATETIC is walking around, walking about, itinerant, from the same PERI, around, about, and PATEIN, to walk. PERIHELION, from PERI, near, and HELIOS, the sun, is that point in the orbit of the earth, or a planet, or a comet, nearest the sun. APHELION, from APO, from, and HELIOS, the sun, is that point farthest from the sun. PERIGEE and APOGEE by derivation are specifically those points nearest to and farthest from the earth, but both words are now used generally for the two points at which any body is nearest to and farthest from another about which it revolves. "At the APOGEE" is thought by 17 percent of adult readers to mean WANING. To WANE is to decrease, diminish. WANE goes directly back to Anglo-Saxon. It is applied particularly to the light of the moon, and is the opposite of WAX, which means to increase. The moon gives no light of its own, but reflects sunlight. As the moon moves around the earth, it is, about once a month, on the opposite side of the earth from the sun. We on the earth then see it as what is called the FULL MOON. From this full illumination, the moon WANES, diminishes, decreases, through the GIBBOUS and the HALF, to the FALCATE. As the moon moves around the earth, it not only WAXES and WANES in brilliance, but is also sometimes nearer the earth than at others, a fact of interest only to astronomers, for the difference in the distance of the moon at APOGEE, when farthest from the earth, and at PERIGEE, when nearest the earth, is so slight as to be detected only by instruments.

FACADE: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:33:55 -0500

Front of a building, exterior face; also, a superficial or artificial appearance, as: "A FACADE of wealth." FACADE comes directly from the French FACADE, the front of a building, from the Latin FACIES, the face, countenance, visage. FACADE is thought by 8 percent of adult readers to mean SIDE. FACADE is sometimes defined as any important outside wall of a building, and so might be a SIDE; but the word comes directly from the Latin FACIES, face, and should ordinarily be reserved for the face of a building, the front. FACADE has also come to mean a false face, false front, superficial show intended to deceive. In this figurative sense, FACADE is almost always used disparagingly.

CLOISTER: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:41:51 -0500

A covered passage between buildings or around a court, arcade; also, a monastery or convent. CLOISTER goes back through Middle English to the French CLOITRE, probably originally to the Latin CLAUDERE, to shut, close. A CLOISTER was at first an enclosure. The word then came to mean the covered walk around an enclosure, around a secluded garden or open court within the walls of a convent or monastery. One side of a CLOISTER is ordinarily a solid wall, and the other side, toward the garden or court, a line of columns holding a series of arches. CLOISTER and COLONNADE are confused by 33 percent of adult readers. The word COLONNADE comes from the Latin COLUMNA, a column. A COLONNADE is a row of columns. Such a COLONNADE, a row of columns supporting arches, often separates a CLOISTER from an unroofed court or garden. Dictionaries which follow usage quote Tennyson: "And around the cool green courts there ran a row of CLOISTERS." This appears to be misuse, the same mistake which a third of adults make today. A COLONNADE is a row of columns; a CLOISTER is a quiet, secluded, covered walk.

CANEPHORA: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:44:48 -0500

A sculptured female figure standing erect and carrying a basket on her head. The architectural term CANEPHORA, sometimes written and pronounced CANEPHORE, is the Latin CANEPHORA, a female figure bearing a basket on her head. This comes from the Greek CANEPHOROS, a basket carrier, a combination of the Greek noun CANEON, a basket made of reeds, from CANNA, a reed, the source of the English CANE; and PHEREIN, to carry, bear. In ancient Greece, a CANEPHORA was one of the bearers of the baskets containing the implements of sacrifice in the processions of certain religious festivals. A CARYATID is a female figure supporting a beam or lintel on her head in place of a basket. In Greek architecture, the term ATLAS, spelled with a small letter, describes the male counterpart of the female CARYATID, the sculptured figure of a man supporting a beam or lintel on his head. In Roman architecture the word TELAMON, with the plural TELAMONES, is used for a masculine CARYATID, the figure of a man performing the function of a column. CANEPHORA, CARYATID, ATLAS, TELAMON, and HERMES, are all sculptured figures; the first two, women; the last three, men. In Greek mythology, HERMES was the messenger of the gods. Spelled with a small letter, the word is used for a sculptured head, usually of a man surmounting a rectangular pedestal. A HERMES, or HERM, carries no burden on his head. In contrast, a CANEPHORA is a woman and carries a basket on her head.

COMMANDEER: (v.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:29:27 -0500

To impress into military service, seize for military purposes, confiscate, seize forcibly. The word originated during the Boer War, when it meant force into military service. COMMANDEER is today sometimes used colloquially to mean seize for personal use. To 37% of college students COMMANDEER incorrectly means to CAPTAIN; and to 23% to ORDER. This is probably a confusion of COMMANDEER with COMMAND. To COMMAND, to CAPTAIN, and to ORDER, all mean to manage, control, direct, regulate; while the verb to COMMANDEER has the limited technical meaning to seize for military purposes.

ACCOUTERMENTS: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:01:06 -0500

Apparel, equipment, trappings, furnishings, paraphernalia, gear, any outfit carried about one's person. In the test phrase: "Well-chosen ACCOUTERMENTS," the word is thought by 24% of adult readers to mean SURROUNDINGS, the popular misconception. Ordinarily the plural SURROUNDINGS means environs, ambience, external conditions. ACCOUTERMENTS are articles worn or carried about the body. The three words ACCOUTERMENTS, EQUIPAGE, and VESTMENT, all designate personal equipment. A VESTMENT is a garment, article of clothing, explicitly a ceremonial robe, an official garment. An EQUIPAGE was originally the equipment of a ship or of an army. In the 18th century the word was used for the collection of implements, toothpick, nail cleaner, and private seal, carried by every person of quality. Later the meaning of the word changed again and an EQUIPAGE meant a carriage, including its horses and servants in liveries; and the word is used most frequently today in this last sense. ACCOUTERMENTS are not limited to garments or clothing, nor do they ordinarily include such things as carriages, horses, or servants. ACCOUTERMENTS are those things which might be carried about one's person.

CYNOSURE: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:41:29 -0500

Attraction, polestar, lodestar, focus, allurement, center of attention, central point of interest, object upon which all eyes are fixed. According to Greek mythology a nymph called CALLISTO was changed into a she-bear by Zeus. She was about to be killed in a hunt when Zeus, to save her life, placed her in the sky as URSA MAJOR. URSA, she-bear, is the feminine form of the Latin URSUS, he-bear. URSA MAJOR is the Great She-Bear. This constellation is now popularly called the Big Dipper. The dog which attacked Callisto became another constellation, now called the Little Dipper, with the polestar at the end of the handle. This constellation was originally called the DOG, with the polestar at the end of the dog's tail. The Greek word for dog is CYON. The genitive or possessive of CYON, dog, is CYNOS, dog's. The Greek word for tail is OURA, so that the combination CYNOSOURA means dog's tail. This is the Greek word for polestar. Since the polestar, north star, was the center of attention in navigation at sea, this Greek word, rewritten in Roman letters, CYNOSURE, means center of attention, focus of all eyes. In the test phrase: "A real CYNOSURE," the word is thought by 17% of adult readers to mean CARPING PERSON. The verb to CARP comes from Icelandic, Swedish, and Norwegian words meaning to boast, brag, but the modern English meaning seems to come from the Latin verb CARPERE, to slander, revile, calumniate, pull to pieces, carp at, exactly the English meaning of CARP, to find fault with. A CARPING PERSON is a CYNIC. This word CYNIC comes from the Greek CYNICOS, doglike, from the same source as CYNOSURE. A CYNIC may be thought of as one who lived like a dog; for the school of philosophers called the CYNICS held art, science, amusements, and riches, all in contempt. DIOGENES, a famous cynic, is said to have lived in a tub. Today a CYNIC is one who doubts the sincerity of social motives, and who expresses his disbelief by sneers, a CARPING person. A CYNOSURE is a center of attention, focus for all eyes.

ESTUARY: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Mon, 2 Mar 2009 19:04:49 -0600

Arm of the sea, inlet filled with water only at high tide, and mud at low tide; also, tidal mouth of a river. ESTUARY comes directly from the Latin AESTUARIUM, an arm of the sea at flood tide, channel extending inland. This comes from the Latin AESTUS, tide, surge, swell of the sea. An AESTUARIUM was also a hot bathing room, and AESTUS meant also glowing heat, fire. This suggestion of heat in the two words is indirectly retained in the English adjective ESTIVAL, pertaining to summer; the noun ESTIVATION, spending the summer; and the verb ESTIVATE, to pass the summer. PROMONTORY and PENINSULA are sometimes confused with ESTUARY. These are both confusions of the sea with the land, for an ESTUARY is an arm of the sea; a PROMONTORY and a PENINSULA, arms of land. A PROMONTORY is a headland, high point of land projecting into the sea. A PENINSULA is land almost surrounded by water, connected with the mainland by a narrow neck. PENINSULA comes from the Latin PAENE, almost, and INSULA, island; a PENINSULA is almost an island. A DELTA is also land. The Greek capital DELTA, equivalent to the English D, is triangular; and the term DELTA is applied to the triangular bit of land which sometimes collects at the mouth of a river and around which the water flows into the sea in two channels. A DELTA is land; an ESTUARY is water.

SCRIPT: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 8 May 2009 19:00:52 -0500

Handwriting, chirography, running series of connected letters, in contrast to print, where the letters are detached. The noun SCRIPT comes from the Latin SCRIPTUM, a book, treatise, writing, law, the neuter of SCRIPTUS, the past participle of SCRIBERE, to write. From this familiar Latin verb SCRIBERE, to write, come many English words. A SCRIBE is a writer. A SCRIBBLE is something written. The SCRIPTURES are writings. A DESCRIPTION is a written picture. A PRESCRIPTION, a combination of the Latin PRE-, before, and SCRIBERE, to write, is writing beforehand, and so advice, direction. To TRANSCRIBE, from the Latin TRANS, over, and SCRIBERE, to write, is to write over, rewrite, copy. SCRIPT is thought by 15 percent of college students to mean READING. The verb to READ is an opposite of WRITE, and so an opposite of the verbs: SCRIBBLE, DESCRIBE, and SCRIBE. In the theater world, the SCRIPT is the text of a play. In this sense SCRIPT is said to be an abbreviation of MANUSCRIPT, a handwritten text, from the Latin MANUS, hand. SCRIPT today means handwriting. The oldest Greek and Latin inscriptions are rows of unattached capitals. By the fourth century A.D., many of these capital letters had become rounded, and some projected either above or below the line. These rounded, detached letters are called UNCIALS. During the seventh century, small letters were invented called MINUSCULES. From the rounded UNCIALS and the small MINUSCULES come our modern rounded, connected, cursive SCRIPT, handwriting.

TESSELLATED: (adj.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:30:23 -0500

Checkered, like a mosaic; made of small pieces of glass, stone, or wood, laid to form a smooth surface; composed of little blocks of variously colored material arranged to form a pattern. The adjective TESSELLATED comes from the Latin adjective TESSELLATUS, made of small square stones, checkered. This comes from the noun TESSELLA, a small square stone, the diminutive of TESSERA, a square. This comes in turn from the Greek TESSARES, four. TESSERA, with the plural TESSARAE, today means a small cube of hard material used in building mosaics. TESSELLATED and BAROQUE are confused by 29 percent of adult readers. BAROQUE comes through the French BAROQUE, from the Portuguese BARROCO, irregular, and was first applied to irregularly shaped pearls. BAROQUE may mean odd, fantastic, bizarre, but perhaps most frequently refers to the over-ornate architectural style that started in Rome in the 17th century as a revolt against the formal architectural rules laid down at the end of the Renaissance. In the 18th century the style spread throughout Europe. The confusion of BAROQUE with TESSELLATED may be remotely caused by the word BYZANTINE, for mosaics, which characterize BYZANTINE architecture, are TESSELLATED, made of TESSARAE. The three adjectives: TESSELLATED, CHECKERED, and COFFERED, describe different ways of treating a surface. COFFERED means decorated with COFFERS, sunken panels in a flat or vaulted ceiling, often enriched with molding and containing an ornament in the center. When square in shape, COFFERS form a CHECKERED pattern; although CHECKERED usually applies to a surface with contrasting colors in the squares. TESSELLATED refers to a flat surface made up of small squares of the same or different colors. The word MOSAIC, as an adjective, is synonymous with TESSELLATED, made of small squares laid to form a smooth surface. The noun a MOSAIC is a TESSELLATED pattern or picture.

RECUMBENT: (adj.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:33:21 -0500

Reclining, lying down, supine, leaning back, reposing, prostrate, flat on one's back. To 7 percent of adult readers RECUMBENT incorrectly means UNTENABLE, indefensible, incapable of being held. RECUMBENT is from the Latin RE-, back, and CUBARE, to lie; from the same source as the English word INCUMBENT, officeholder, and CUBICLE, a small room. RECUMBENT is literally lying back.

LEMAN: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:32:47 -0500

A sweetheart of either sex, one who is dear, beloved person, adored one; sometimes, a mistress, paramour, illicit lover. In the test phrase: "Offered it to his LEMAN," the word is thought by 41% of adult readers to mean SERVANT. This is obviously a confusion of the unusual LEMAN, often correctly pronounced LEMAN, though dictionaries prefer LEMAN, with LIEGEMAN, a vassal sworn to serve and support his overlord. LIEGEMAN was used as early as 1350, to about 1660, when England abolished feudal tenures by act of Parliament. The word LEMAN goes further back to 1200, but covers the same period as LIEGEMAN. LEMAN is a contraction of LIEF MAN, dear man; for LIEF means dear, beloved, precious. It is known from the phrase: "I would as LIEF go," gladly, dearly, willingly. The same word appears in BELIEF, trust, faith, confidence. The noun BELIEF, the verb to BELIEVE, LOVE, LIEF, and LEMAN, all go back to an Anglo-Saxon word for love. A LEMAN, a LIEF MAN, is a person one loves, a sweetheart. The word is marked archaic or obsolete by most dictionaries today, for it belongs to the period in English literature from Chaucer to Shakespeare.

PASTEURIZE: (v.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:15:15 -0500

Sterilize, preserve by heating to about 140 degrees Fahrenheit. PASTEURIZE and PASTEURIZATION are both from the proper name PASTEUR. LOUIS PASTEUR was a French scientist, a chemist and microscopist, who lived from 1822 to 1895. To PASTEURIZE is to heat to a temperature between 55 degrees and 70 degrees centigrade, or between 130 degrees and 160 degrees Fahrenheit. This prevents fungi and spores from causing further fermentation. Beers, wines, and milk, are PASTEURIZED in order to stop fermentation. PASTEURIZE and PASTEURIZATION may be spelled without capital P's, as: pasteurize, pasteurization.

CRYPTIC: (adj.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:34:27 -0500

Secret, hidden, obscure, enigmatical, abstruse, occult, profound, mysterious, recondite, shrouded, concealed, veiled, esoteric, covert, arcane, inscrutable, mystifying because capable of more than one interpretation. CRYPTIC comes directly from the Greek CRYPTOS, hidden. From the feminine CRYPTE comes the English noun CRYPT, originally a hidden cell, cave, and then the basement of a church, underground part of a cathedral. "CRYPTIC writing" is thought by 26% of adult readers to be TERSE, concise, brief, sententious, short, compact, to the point. Dictionaries today often give TERSE, brief, abrupt, as an alternate meaning of CRYPTIC. The OXFORD, the CENTURY, and WEBSTER'S NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY, Second Edition, do not recognize this definition; and, as there is no etymological basis for connecting the two words, one is inclined to believe this usage to be vulgar and spurious. It is also unnecessarily confusing, for the words CRYPTIC and TERSE have useful and distinct applications, which should not be muddled. TERSE implies clarity with brevity, short and to the point, elegantly concise. CRYPTIC means mysterious, secret, with no suggestion of conciseness.

VIPER: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Mon, 8 Jun 2009 13:50:12 -0500

Snake, serpent, poisonous reptile; specifically, an asp, adder, or cobra; loosely, any venomous snake. The word VIPER is from the Latin VIPERA, a serpent, adder, a contraction of VIVIPERA. This in turn is a combination of the Latin VIVUS, alive, with PARERE, to bring forth. Most snakes are OVIPAROUS, they lay eggs that later hatch; but VIPERS are thus named because they were once supposed to be VIVIPAROUS, a term meaning bringing forth live young. In actuality, VIPERS are OVOVIVIPAROUS, a word from the Latin OVUM, egg, and VIVIPARUS, an adjective meaning bringing forth alive, the direct source of the word VIVIPAROUS. The CENTURY DICTIONARY defines OVOVIVIPAROUS as: "Producing eggs which are hatched within the body of the parent but without placental attachment, so that the young are born alive, yet have not been developed in that direct connection with the blood-vessels of the mother which is characteristic of viviparous animals." And under the entry VIVIPAROUS the CENTURY adds: "If the egg is quickly extruded, the animal is OVIPAROUS; if it is separated from the mother, but hatches inside the body, OVOVIVIPAROUS; if it comes to term in a womb, VIVIPAROUS." A VIPER is a member of the family of snakes known by the Latin name VIPERIDAE. Snakes, known technically as the OPHIDIA, are divided into some ten or more families, among them the COLUBRIDAE, the common, harmless snakes; the HYDROPHIDAE, the sea snakes, and the VIPERIDAE, the venomous snakes. Contrary to popular belief, most snakes are not poisonous. VIPERS in this respect differ from other snakes; practically all are poisonous, many are deadly. This no doubt leads 25 percent of adult readers to believe that VIPERS are POISONOUS SPIDERS. Although often called INSECTS, SPIDERS have eight legs and so differ from true insects, which always have six legs. VIPERS are poisonous, but are SNAKES, not SPIDERS. The snake called an ASP, used by CLEOPATRA, Queen of Egypt, to end her own life by its poisonous bite, is one of the VIPERS, in Latin terminology, VIPERA ASPIS.

SPRUCE: (adj.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Mon, 2 Mar 2009 19:04:49 -0600

Neat, tidy, smart in dress, dapper, trim, jaunty, dressed-up, fashionable, well-groomed. The adjective SPRUCE seems to have come from the noun SPRUCE, which in turn was originally an abbreviation of SPRUCE LEATHER, another name for Prussian leather. SPRUCE was originally spelled PRUCE, the Old French way of spelling PRUSSIA, the northeast part of the German empire. SPRUCE BEER was originally Prussian beer. The adjective SPRUCE then came to characterize the fashionable attire worn in the Prussian Court, and so to mean smart. SPRUCE is thought by 14 percent of adult readers to mean LIVELY, full of life, spirited, energetic, vivacious, animated. This may be a confusion of SPRUCE, neat, with SPRY, lively, active, nimble. SPRUCE has no suggestion of liveliness, but means well-dressed. By another 12 percent SPRUCE is thought to mean PRIM, a word similar in meaning to spruce but differing a little in its implication. PRIM means fussily neat, exaggeratedly precise, finical. TRIM is almost an exact synonym of SPRUCE, well-dressed.

NECROMANCY: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:44:08 -0500

The revealing of future events by means of communication with the dead. From this has come the more general meaning, magic, sorcery, wizardry, witchcraft, conjuration. NECROMANCY is sometimes fallaciously thought to be derived from NEGRO; and the word was, for a long time, spelled NEGROMANCY. NECROMANCY comes from the Greek NECROS, dead, and MANTIS, a prophet, seer, diviner. The first part is from the same source as NECROPOLIS, literally a city of the dead, a large cemetery. This derivation leads 13% of college seniors to believe that NECROMANCY means GRAVEROBBING. To 37% of college seniors NECROMANCY incorrectly means IDOL WORSHIP, the adoration of an image. NECROMANCY is magic, witchcraft, sorcery.

UXORIOUS: (adj.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:39:57 -0500

Excessively fond of a wife, doting, foolishly devoted to a wife. To 16% of college seniors UXORIOUS incorrectly means STINGY, closefisted, niggardly, penurious. This may be a confusion of UXORIOUS, doting, with PENURIOUS, stingy. The mislead SUMPTUOUS is marked by 15% of college seniors. This is a confusion of similar sounds, LUXURIOUS, sumptuous, with UXORIOUS, fondly devoted to a wife. UXORIOUS comes from the Latin UXOR, wife, and does not mean fondness in general, but fondness for a wife.

PITH: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Mon, 8 Jun 2009 13:51:10 -0500

Core, heart, kernel, marrow, nucleus, vital or central part, gist, essence, quintessence; also, weight, substance, importance, solidity, gravity. PITHY is the corresponding adjective. PITH, KERNEL, and MARROW, are all more or less scientific words for the central substance. MARROW, of Anglo-Saxon origin, is the soft tissue in the center of bones. KERNEL, the diminutive of the Anglo-Saxon word CORN, is the central part of a seed or of a nut, often the edible part. PITH, also of Anglo-Saxon origin, is the central substance of a plant stem. MEDULLA, from the Latin MEDIUS, middle, a word which in turn comes from the Greek MESOS, middle, is reserved for more scientific use. In biology it is synonymous with MARROW; in botany, with PITH. The three Anglo-Saxon words PITH, KERNEL, and MARROW, are also used figuratively to mean central substance. In the test phrase: "The PITH of his argument," where the word is used figuratively, it is thought by 26 percent of adult readers to mean COHERENCE, consistency, logical connection. COHERENCE presupposes a number of parts sticking together. PITH is the central part, essence, nucleus.

SACERDOTAL: (adj.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:43:38 -0500

Priestly, holy, presbyterial, pertaining to the priesthood, to one who offers sacrifice. The first part of the word SACERDOTAL comes from the same source as SACRIFICE and SACRED, hallowed, made holy, consecrated to religious use. The second part comes from the Latin DARE, to give, the source of the English word DOT, a marriage gift, dowry. SACERDOTAL by derivation means bestowing a sacred gift. In the test phrase: "SACERDOTAL rites," the word is thought by 4 percent of adult readers to mean BLASPHEMOUS, the popular misconception. BLASPHEMOUS means irreverent, impious, using profane language. BLASPHEMOUS, which comes from a Greek word meaning to speak, utter, applies only to that which is spoken, to profane language, but in suggestion is an opposite of SACERDOTAL, priestly. A PRIEST, a DIVINE, a MINISTER, and a CLERGYMAN, are all religious workers. The word CLERGYMAN is general, generic, and includes all persons in holy orders. A MINISTER or PASTOR looks after the spiritual welfare of his congregation. A DIVINE is learned in the Scriptures. A PRIEST is appointed to offer sacrifice, the distinguishing rite of the priesthood. Properly used, SACERDOTAL applies only to priestly functions, and not to any pastoral or intellectual activities of the clergy.

ATTEST: (v.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:31:58 -0500

To bear witness, certify, affirm, confirm, authenticate, approve the truth of. The verb to ATTEST comes from the Latin AD, to, and TESTARI, to bear witness, a verb which comes in turn from the Latin TESTIS, a witness, the source of the English verb to TESTIFY, to declare, give evidence, state a fact. CONTEST, PROTEST, and DETEST, come from the same Latin TESTIS, a witness. To DETEST, to hate, abhor, execrate, denounce, abominate, a combination of DE and TESTIS, a witness, comes from the Latin verb DETESTARI, which suggests calling the gods to bear witness to an intense dislike. PROTEST, a combination of PRO, before, and the same TESTIS, a witness, comes from the Latin PROTESTARI, to bear witness, declare in public. The basic meaning of PROTEST is to declare, assert, affirm, bear witness to, as: "To PROTEST one's innocence." The word is so often used with the preposition AGAINST, as: "To PROTEST AGAINST," bear witness against, that to many the word suggests OBJECT TO; but correctly used to PROTEST is synonymous with assert, aver, except that it is more solemn and is used in answer to a previous statement to the contrary. One may ASSERT or DECLARE a truth; one PROTESTS a truth only when someone else has previously questioned it. To CONTEST, from CON-, COM-, together, and the same TESTIS, a witness, comes from the Latin CONTESTARI, to call to witness, and so bring an action against, and finally, dispute in court. From this comes the modern meaning of strive, contend, compete, dispute. It is no doubt the word CONTEST which leads 24 percent of adult readers to believe that ATTEST means DISPUTE. To DISPUTE is to argue against, oppose, in suggestion an opposite of ATTEST. To ATTEST is to vouch for, establish a fact, guarantee, prove the verisimilitude of, substantiate a truth.

PROLETARIAN: (adj.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:00:41 -0500

Of the lower classes, belonging to the poorest group, vulgar, common, day-laboring, wage-earning. PROLETARIAN comes from the Latin PROLETARIUS, a citizen of ancient Rome who belonged to the lowest class, had no property, and was regarded as useful to the state only as the parent of children; for this word comes in turn from PROLES, offspring, progeny. PROLES is today an unusual English word meaning offspring, progeny. In British informal speech, the word PROLE, or PROLE, with the plural PROLES or PROLES, means a member of the proletariat, the working class. George Orwell uses the word in his novel 1984: "If there is hope it lies with the PROLES," the PROLETARIAN class. In the phrase: "The PROLETARIAN class," the word is thought by 17% of adult readers to mean ARISTOCRATIC. The adjective ARISTOCRATIC, and the corresponding noun ARISTOCRACY, come from a combination of two Greek words, ARISTOS, best, and CRATEIN, to rule, be strong. ARISTOCRATIC originally meant ruled by the best. It then came to mean noble, ruling, privileged, belonging to the higher classes, an exact opposite of PROLETARIAN, of the lower classes.

PERIPATETIC: (adj.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:31:22 -0500

Walking about, wandering, accustomed to move from place to place, itinerant, pedestrian, ambulatory, not stationary. When spelled with a capital, PERIPATETIC refers to a follower of Aristotle, who lived from 384 to 322 B.C. Aristotle was a pupil of Plato, but differed in being less poetic and more scientific. The last thirteen years of his life he spent in Athens, where he taught as he wandered about the Lyceum, the temple of the Lycean Apollo. The Lyceum was an exercise ground of ancient Athens on the right bank of the Ilissus, noted for its groves of plane trees. Aristotle and his disciples discussed their philosophy in the shady walks of this gymnasium, and hence received the name of PERIPATETICS. "PERIPATETIC occupations" are thought by 25 percent of adult readers to be ROUTINE. ROUTINE comes from the French ROUTINE, the diminutive of ROUTE, path, course, way, route; so that the adjective ROUTINE means following a course, not far from PERIPATETIC, except that ROUTINE means following the same course every day, unvarying, habitual; whereas PERIPATETIC means moving about. The two adjectives PERIPATETIC and NOMADIC both mean moving about and are both of Greek origin. NOMADIC, wandering, roving, is from the Greek NEMEIN, to pasture, and by derivation means roving, wandering, like a herd of cattle in search of food. PERIPATETIC is from two Greek words, PERI, about, and PATEIN, to walk, and means literally walking about.

PREAMBLE: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:40:57 -0500

A preliminary statement, introduction, preface, prelude, prologue, proem. The word may be used specifically for the introductory part of a statute. Thus used, the PREAMBLE states the reasons for and intent of what follows. PREAMBLE comes from the Latin PRAE, before, and AMBULARE, to walk, and by derivation means to walk before. From AMBULARE comes the English word AMBLE, to walk in a leisurely and comfortable manner; but not the word RAMBLE, to roam, wander about, despite the similarity in both sound and meaning. From the Latin AMBULARE come also the English words AMBULANCE, by derivation a walking hospital, now a vehicle for transporting the sick and injured; and AMBULATORY, an adjective meaning pertaining to walking, capable of walking, or moving from place to place. The noun an AMBULATORY is used in architecture of any passageway designed for walking, usually a covered walk, such as a gallery, a cloister, or the aisle around the choir and apse of a church. Both INTRODUCTION and PREFACE are more familiar words than PREAMBLE. An INTRODUCTION should properly be a part of what follows. It is from the Latin word DUCERE, to lead, and means literally leading one in. A PREFACE is not necessarily a part of what follows. Although the PREFACE is printed at the beginning, it may have been written after the book was completed. PREFACE, from the Latin FARI, to say, means a saying beforehand. A PREFACE may contain an apology for what follows, or sometimes a history of the events that lead to what follows. A PREFACE can be read at any time, not necessarily at the beginning. A PREAMBLE is, if one translates the Latin literally, a delightful ambling about before undertaking the more serious business of what follows.

TEMPLE: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Mon, 2 Mar 2009 19:04:16 -0600

A church, tabernacle, fane, religious edifice, building for public worship dedicated to a deity. A TEMPLE and an AUDITORIUM are confused by 3 percent of adult readers. The word AUDITORIUM comes directly from the Latin AUDITORIUM, a court of justice, audience hall. This comes in turn from AUDITOR, a hearer, listener, and this from AUDIRE, to hear, listen. An AUDITORIUM may be a part of a TEMPLE, church, theater, or school. It is the space designed for the listeners, audience. The word TEMPLE goes back through Anglo-Saxon to the Latin TEMPLUM, an open space, consecrated place. As now used the word applies to any religious edifice, place for divine worship. Historically, the word applies specifically to the sacred buildings of the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, as: the Egyptian TEMPLE of KARNAK; the Greek TEMPLE of NEPTUNE, at Paestum; and the Roman TEMPLE of MINERVA, at Assisi. The PARTHENON at Athens in Greece is another TEMPLE, counted among the wonders of architecture.

LIBERTINE: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:29:53 -0500

One who leads a licentious life, rake, roue, debauchee, profligate, dissolute person, indulger; also, a freethinker regarding moral and religious matters. The word LIBERTINE comes from the Latin LIBERTUS, a freed man. This comes ultimately from LIBER, free, the source of the English LIBERTY, freedom, exemption from outside control, and LIBERAL, free in scope, without narrow limitations, also generous, munificent, magnanimous, bountiful. In Roman history the word LIBERTINE is used for a so-called FREEDMAN, the technical term for a slave freed, MANUMITTED. This no doubt misleads 23% of adult readers into believing that LIBERTINE means SLAVE. A LIBERTINE was one who had been a SLAVE but who had been freed from servitude. From this original sense the word LIBERTINE has come to mean one freed from moral restraint, given to indulgence.

ACCLIMATED: (adj.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:00:33 -0500

Adapted to a climate, naturalized, habituated, accustomed, incorporated, adjusted to a region, fitted, acclimatized, accommodated, suited. The pronunciation ACCLIMATED, widely used today, is generally thought to be correct. This is a misconception. Not until recently was it included in the dictionaries, and it is still listed second to the preferred pronunciation, ACCLIMATED. As is often the case with words so frequently and universally mispronounced, ACCLIMATED may yet come to replace ACCLIMATED in the dictionaries; but until that time, the pronunciation ACCLIMATED is still more correct, and is recommended here for those who wish to be careful speakers of the language. In the test phrase: "Easily ACCLIMATED," the word is thought by 5% of adult readers to mean PROVIDED FOR. This is no doubt a confusion of ACCLIMATED with ACCOMMODATED. To ACCOMMODATE is to fit, adapt, adjust, make suitable, conform, so that to ACCOMMODATE oneself to a climate is to become ACCLIMATED. But the verb to ACCOMMODATE may also mean supply, furnish, PROVIDE FOR. ACCLIMATE is not used in this way. The verb to ACCLIMATE comes from the Latin AD, to, which becomes AC- before another C, and the Latin CLIMAT-, climate. This comes in turn from the Greek CLIMA, CLIMATIS, a region, zone, from the verb CLINEIN, to slope, lean. The Greek noun originally meant a slope, inclination, and then came to designate one of the belts around the earth, parallel to the equator, with conditions dependent, as we now say, upon the inclination of the sun's rays. Today the word CLIMATE means, not the region, but the characteristics of the region, the amount of sunny weather, heat or cold, moisture or dryness. To ACCLIMATE is to adapt to a new set of conditions, accustom to a foreign climate.

ANNEX: (v.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:40:36 -0500

To take over, add, connect, append, attach, subjoin, affix. ANNEX is from the Latin AD and NECTERE, to fasten together. When used in the phrase: "To ANNEX the country," the word is thought by 2 percent of adult readers to mean RECOGNIZE, acknowledge, admit the existence of. The noun an ANNEX is used in architecture to mean a subsidiary building, a smaller or less important building attached or adjacent to a large one. The verb to ANNEX means to join a smaller, less important thing to a larger thing.

SEDILIA: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:34:23 -0500

Seats for priests in that part of the church reserved for the officiating clergy, three chairs against the south side of the presbytery. SEDILIA is the plural of SEDILE, identical with the Latin SEDILE, a seat, bench, from the verb SEDERE, to sit, the source of the adjective SEDENTARY, done sitting down, as: "A SEDENTARY occupation." In early Christian churches a joint throne, called the SYNTHRONI, was placed behind the altar, against the east end of the apse, and was used by the bishop and his presbyters. In a CATHEDRAL, or bishop's church, the CATHEDRA, or bishop's throne, is on the south side of the sanctuary, to the right of the altar as one faces it. In many English churches, and in Roman Catholic churches without a bishop's throne, the SEDILIA are three seats at the right of the sanctuary, to the south and a little in front of the altar. During service they are occupied by the priest, the deacon, and the subdeacon.

KHAN: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Mon, 2 Mar 2009 19:04:19 -0600

Prince, sovereign, ruler, sultan, title of sovereignty, nomadic chief, state officer in Persia. In the test phrase: "The great KHAN," the word is thought by 12% of adult readers to mean TRIBE. This may be a confusion of KHAN, the ruler, with KHANATE, the district over which he rules; or of KHAN with the more familiar CLAN, a tribe, family, race, group of people of common descent. The word CLAN comes from a Gaelic word meaning offspring, descendants, progeny. KHAN is a Persian word, probably of TATAR origin. (The word TATAR is often spuriously spelled with another R, TARTAR.) Bulgarians migrated east as early as the fifth century and formed a KHANATE in Asia Minor, now Turkey, south of the Black Sea, between that and the Mediterranean. Later a Mongol invasion, and then the addition of some Finnish tribes, gave a distinct character to these Volga Tatars. GENGHIS KHAN was the ruler of the Mongols. He lived from 1162 to 1227. GENGHIS means perfect warrior; KHAN means ruler, sovereign. He assumed both names in 1206 when he proclaimed himself ruler of the Mongol Empire. The rulers who followed him were known as the GREAT KHANS. The word KHAN is still used to mean ruler, but in Persia may be added to the name of any aristocratic Mohammedan.

OBLIVION: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:32:42 -0500

Forgiveness, remission, amnesty, clemency, pardon, grace, condonation, the official overlooking or disregard of an offense. The word OBLIVION comes from the Latin OBLIVIO, OBLIVIONIS, forgetfulness, a combination of OB, over, and LIVERE, to be black-and-blue, the source of the English word LIVID, bluish gray, black-and-blue, like a contusion. Ordinarily OBLIVION means the state of having been forgotten. To pass into OBLIVION is to go out of the mind and memory of the world. The same word is used to designate that some offense has passed into OBLIVION; that is, has been forgotten. In this sense OBLIVION is amnesty, general pardon of crimes, and applies to political offenses. In English history the ACT OF OBLIVION of 1660 exempted those who had taken arms against Charles II from punishment. In the phrase: "She received OBLIVION," the word is thought by 31% of adult readers to mean UTTER SCORN. The verb to SCORN sometimes means weakly to feel it beneath one to do something; but even here to SCORN is stronger than FORGET or IGNORE, and the noun SCORN is not used in this way. Ordinarily to SCORN is more passionate than DESPISE, more extreme than CONTEMN, and less proud and haughty than DISDAIN. In the phrase: "She received OBLIVION," the word is used to mean forgiveness, pardon, amnesty.

RAZE: (v.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:33:57 -0500

To level to the ground, tear down, demolish, destroy, obliterate, efface, wipe out. To RAZE is from the same source as ERASE, RAZOR, and RASCAL, a word which by derivation suggests a scraping, offscouring of society. RAZE means to tear down, level to the ground. In the test phrase: "The village was RAZED," the two popular misconceptions of the word are: BURNED, held by 12 percent of adult readers; and PLUNDERED, held by 11 percent. Both imply destruction. A village may be RAZED by fire or by a plundering expedition, but neither BURNED nor PLUNDERED specifies RAZED, leveled to the ground. To RAZE and to DEMOLISH both mean to destroy, but in slightly different senses. To DEMOLISH is by derivation to build down, destroy the structure. A building may be DEMOLISHED even though parts of its walls still stand. To RAZE is literally to level to the ground.

MANUSCRIPT: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:57:01 -0500

Handwritten book, chirograph, author's copy of a work, anything written by hand. MANUSCRIPT is thought by 3% of adult readers to mean PORTFOLIO, a confusion of the container, the PORTFOLIO, with its contents, the MANUSCRIPT. PORTFOLIO comes from the Latin PORTARE, to carry, and FOLIUM, a leaf. In modern usage, a PORTFOLIO is a case consisting of two stiff covers with a flexible back, used for carrying loose papers. The confusion of PORTFOLIO with MANUSCRIPT is no doubt increased by the word FOLIO. A FOLIO is a book made of large sheets folded once. FOLIOS have no standard size but are usually large. Most early MANUSCRIPTS were of similar large size; but a PORTFOLIO is a carrying case, not a book. MANUSCRIPT is a combination of the Latin MANU, the ablative of MANUS, hand, and SCRIPTUS, the past participle of SCRIBERE, to write. From the same MANUS, hand, come the English noun a MANUAL, a small book carried in the hand, and the adjective MANUAL, done by hand. MANUAL dexterity is quickness and niceness with the hands. MANUAL labor is literally hand work; but today the phrase designates physical labor in general as opposed to brain work. To MANUFACTURE, from the same MANUS, hand, and FACERE, to make, is by derivation to make by hand; but the word is now used to mean fabricate, assemble with the cooperation of many hands, and may even suggest produce by machine as opposed to by hand. Before the invention of printing in the 15th century, all books were in MANUSCRIPT, handwritten. The oldest of these MANUSCRIPTS are Egyptian, and date from as much as 3000 years before Christ. The earliest Greek and Latin MANUSCRIPTS were in capitals that gradually became rounded and were then called UNCIALS, letters like capitals but not all of uniform height, certain letters projecting either above or below the standard line. Today a MANUSCRIPT, abbreviated MS., with the plural MSS., is the author's original, and may be handwritten or typed.

DERVISH: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 8 May 2009 19:01:58 -0500

Mohammedan monk who practices poverty, chastity, and humility; Turkish or Persian monk who leads an austere life, Mohammedan fakir, religious mendicant, begging Mohammedan friar. In Iran, which was called Persia until 1935, India, and Turkey, the DERVISHES are a religious order, living in monasteries, not unlike the monasteries of the Roman Catholic world, under vows of celibacy, and supervised by a sheik. There have been many orders of DERVISHES, each with its characteristic dress and customs. One order requires a thousand and one days of training so strict that if for a single day the novice fails he must begin again from the beginning. The word DERVISH comes directly from Turkish, and from there goes back through Arabic to a Persian word which means poor, needy, indigent. "The whirling DERVISH" is thought by 59% of readers to be a DANCER. The DERVISHES of one order are called the HOWLING DERVISHES, those of another the WHIRLING DERVISHES, or sometimes DANCING DERVISHES. In their devotional exercises these WHIRLING DERVISHES chant monotonously and turn slowly around, with eyes closed and arms extended. In his PERSIAN LIFE AND CUSTOMS, published in 1897, S.G. Wilson, for many years a missionary in Persia, describes a DERVISH as: "One of an order of religious mendicants, a strolling story teller with long disheveled hair, a close-fitting skull cap, sometimes embroidered with verses from the Koran, and bound with a fillet with hanging tassels. His girdle is a bundle of rough threads, his cloak a fanciful patchwork, an embroidered cloth, or the skin of a beast with its hoofs or claws hanging down. He has for his KASHGUL, or collection box, a large Indian nutshell, curiously carved, and in his hand a mace or cane, a heavy stick of iron, a tomahawk or an immense club of uncouth shape and with a knob driven full of spikes. They tell their stories on street corners and in the bazaars and collect their pennies; they squat down in a little tent before the gate of some rich man; they stroll from village to village; and wherever they are their cry: 'Ya hak, Ya hak' (Oh truth, Oh truth), is heard. They are not highly respected but are looked upon as holy and never ridiculed."

GLAUCOUS: (adj.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Mon, 8 Jun 2009 13:52:03 -0500

Sea-green, bluish green or greenish blue, caesious; in botany, covered with a whitish bloom like a plum. GLAUCOUS comes from the Latin GLAUCUS, and this in turn from the Greek GLAUCOS, gleaming, silvery, also gray, bluish green, a term applied by the Greeks to the lightest eyes they knew, light blue or gray. "GLAUCOUS eyes" are thought by 31 percent of adult readers to be BULGING. This confusion may be the pathological term GLAUCOMA, a disease of the eye. The word GLAUCOMA comes from the Greek GLAUCOS, because of the glazed appearance of the eye in GLAUCOMA. BULGING means convex, swelling outward. Of the adjective GLAUCOUS, Asa Gray, in his STRUCTURAL BOTANY, 1880, says: "Covered or whitened with a bloom, like that on a cabbage leaf."

KIOSK: (n.)

webmaster@wordsmart.com (WordSmart Corp.) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:41:23 -0500

An open pavilion, summerhouse common in Turkey and Persia and reproduced in the gardens and parks of other countries. A KIOSK has a roof often supported on columns, no walls, and an open balustrade. KIOSK is from a Persian word meaning palace. To 28 percent of college seniors KIOSK incorrectly means EGYPTIAN MONUMENT, perhaps a confusion of KIOSK with OBELISK, a tall, square-cut, Egyptian monument of stone, carved with hieroglyphics. To another 20 percent KIOSK incorrectly means ESKIMO CANOE. This is evidently a confusion of KIOSK with KAYAK, a light, canoe-shaped boat, usually made of sealskin stretched over a wood frame. Today the word KIOSK is applied in a general sense to any open pavilion used as a newsstand, bandstand, booth, or for the display of posters and bulletins.