Word of the day: protean

The word of the day is protean:

< the name of Proteus (see Proteus n.) + -an suffix. Compare French Protéen (1571 and 1580 in isolated attestations in Middle French as protean; subsequently from 1869).

A. adj.

1. Of or relating to Proteus, like that of Proteus. Hence in extended use: adopting or existing in various shapes, variable in form; variously manifested or expressed; changing, unpredictable.

2. Biol. Designating protozoans (esp. amoebas) which can vary their shape. Cf. Proteus n. 2a. Obs.

3. Theatre. Of a performance: having the same actors playing several parts in the same piece; (of a performer) playing several characters in the same piece, ‘quick-change’. Cf. sense B. 1b. 

4. Zool. Of animal behaviour: unpredictable and confusing, thus providing a defence against predators.  (OED)

"Rush's performance is a series of wonderful protean transformations.  During the course of the evening, as his desperation increases, Poprishchin becomes a gobbling turkey, a baboon, a peacock, a dog, and, finally, on 'April 43rd', King Ferdinand of Spain, underscoring his royal signature with a Baroque flourish."

 - John Lahr, "Stir Crazy: Delusions in Adam Rapp, Nikolai Gogol, and the Wooster Group", 7 March 2011 The New Yorker

Word of the day: punctilio

The word of the day is punctilio:

< Italian puntiglio trifling point (1551; now obsolete), minute detail of action or conduct, nicety of behaviour, point of honour (a1556), stubborn insistence upon minutiae of action or conduct (a1556), cavil, quibble, sophistry (a1580) and its etymon Spanish puntillo dot (a1435), minute detail of action or conduct, nicety of behaviour, point of honour
Forms in punct- are after classical Latin punctum.

 A. n.

 1.a. A minute detail of action or conduct; a nicety of behaviour, ceremony, or honour; a small or petty formality. Also: a hair-splitting or fastidious objection; a scruple. †to stand upon punctilios and variants: to have particular regard for niceties of conduct, etc.; to be punctilious (cf. to stand upon points at point n.¹ Phrases 3h) (obs.).

b. A small or trifling point, detail, or particular; a particle, jot. Obs. 

c. A precise point or fact. Obs. rare.

2.a. As a mass noun: strict observance of or insistence upon minutiae of action or conduct; petty formality; punctiliousness.

b. Prob.: a punctilious person. Obs. rare^—1.

3. A sharp point; (also) a point marked on a sundial. Obs. rare.. 

4. The highest point, the apex (lit. and fig.); a high projecting point or tip. Obs. rare.

5. A moment, an instant. Only in punctilio of time. Obs. 

B. adj. (attrib.).  Trifling, petty. Obs.  (OED)

"He takes refuge in the swagger of his splenetic punctilio, which imposes a sense of command on a life that is transparently hapless."

 - John Lahr, "Stir Crazy: Delusions in Adam Rapp, Nikolai Gogol, and the Wooster Group", 7 March 2011 The New Yorker