Word of the day: harmonium

The word of the day is harmonium:

1. an organlike keyboard instrument with small metal reeds and a pair of bellows operated by the player's feet.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/harmonium)

"We found the attic, with boxes of old books and stored quilts and three empty trunks, and a broken harmonium, and Grandmother Adelia's headless dress form, a pallid, musty torso."

 - Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin

Word of the day: aborning

The word of the day is aborning:

—adverb

1. in birth; before being carried out: The scheme died aborning.

—adjective

2. being born; coming into being, fruition, realization, etc.: A new era of architecture is aborning.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aborning)

"The democratic society that Alexis de Tocqueville described in the 1830s was still aborning in the 1780s."

 - Joseph J. Ellis, The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789

Word of the day: bagatelle

The word of the day is bagatelle:

1. something of little value or importance; a trifle.
2. a game played on a board having holes at one end into which balls are to be struck with a cue.
3. pinball.
4. a short and light musical composition, typically for the piano.

1630s, "a trifle," from Fr. bagatelle "knicknack, bauble, trinket" (16c.), from It. bagatella "a trifle," dim. of L. baca "berry." As "a piece of light music," it is attested from 1827.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bagatelle)

"Until we solve the world's desperate socio-economic problems, we can't waste our time on bagatelles like obscure Native American languages."

 - Jared Diamond quoting a hypothetical counterargument in The World Until Yesterday

Word of the day: tsuris

The word of the day is tsuris:

1. trouble; woe.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tsuris)

"Really, why go through the trouble of leaving home, battling T.S.A. lines, enduring delayed flights, and all the other travel tsuris when you can just stay where all the tourists want to be anyway, in N.Y.C.?"

 - Bob Mankoff, "The Cartoon Lounge: No Place Like Home", 27 July 2016 (http://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/bob-mankoff/the-cartoon-lounge-no-place-like-home?mbid=nl_07272016%20Cartoon%20Newsletter%20Final&CNDID=18333662&spMailingID=9265608&spUserID=MTA5MjM5OTU5NTI2S0&spJobID=962205615&spReportId=OTYyMjA1NjE1S0)

Word of the day: regnant

The word of the day is regnant:

1. reigning; ruling (usually used following the noun it modifies)
2. exercising authority, rule, or influence.
3. prevalent; widespread.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/regnant)

"Though the term is only used three times in the full body of his work, the invisible hand has become the regnant image of Smith’s philosophy."

 - John Paul Rollert, "Of Morals and Markets", Spring 2016 The University of Chicago Magazine (https://mag.uchicago.edu/economics-business/morals-and-markets)

Word of the day: nuncio

The word of the day is nuncio:

1. a diplomatic representative of the pope at a foreign court or capital: equal in status to an ambassador.

papal envoy, 1528, from It. nuncio (now nunzio), from L. nuntius "messenger," from PIE base *neu- "to shout" (cf. Gk. neuo "to nod, beckon," O.Ir. noid "make known").

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nuncio)

"When an American general arrived to confer with the papal nuncio, the U.S. Army blared music from loudspeakers to prevent journalists from eavesdropping."

 - Alex Ross, "The sound of hate", 4 July 2016 The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/04/when-music-is-violence)

Word of the day: inveigh

The word of the day is inveigh:

to protest strongly or attack vehemently with words; rail (usually followed by against)

1486, "to introduce," from L. invehi "to attack with words," originally "carry oneself against," from passive inf. of invehere "bring in, carry in," from in- "against" + vehere "to carry" (see vehicle). Meaning "to give vent to violent denunciation" is from 1529.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/inveigh)

"Most important, if Bush’s faith gave him certainties that became overweening and dangerous during his Presidency, why did they not so manifest themselves while he was on the road to Damascus fifteen years earlier, or when he was inveighing against nation-building in 2000?"

 - Thomas Mallon, "W is for why", 4 July The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/04/bush-by-jean-edward-smith)

Word of the day: mentation

The word of the day is mentation:

1. mental activity.

1850, from L. ment- "mind" (see mental) + -ation.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mentation)

"Unlike Foster's emphasis on the mentation of his beasts, Thwaites is focused on achieving the physicality of the goat."

 - Carolyn Ristau, "Wild Things", 17 June 2016 Science (http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6292/1402)

Word of the day: sclerosed

The word of the day is sclerosed:

1. hardened or indurated, as by sclerosis.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sclerosed)

"The swift's minute filoplumes would convey essential information on feather orientation to its brain; Foster's body hair ruffles empathetically.  The urban fox engenders his deep respect: choosing to hunt, even though it could survive on pizza scraps.  In contrast, humans seem 'sclerosed superspecialists.'"

 - Carolyn Ristau, "Wild Things", 17 June 2016 Science (http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6292/1402)

No, I don't get it.  In those examples, aren't the swifts and foxes specialized?

Word of the day: blue-sky

The word of the day is blue-sky:

Not limited by conventional notions of what is practical or feasible; imaginative or visionary

(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/blue-sky)

"Although Europe funds ancient DNA work as basic research, it is beginning to pay medical and technological dividends.  For example, by sequencing the Neandertal genome—a blue skies project if there ever was one—researchers have discovered a host of Neandertal immune and other genes in living people that profoundly affect risks of disease (Science, 12 February, p. 648)."

 - Ann Gibbons, "Ancient DNA Divide", 17 June 2016 Science

Word of the day: egest

The word of the day is egest:

1. to discharge, as from the body; void (opposed to ingest ).

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/egest)

"By the end of the movie, Refn has toyed with cannibalism, lesbian necrophilia, the egestion of an eyeball, and other minor sports, all of them filmed in lavish taste."

 - Anthony Lane, "Pet Peeves", 27 June 2016 The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/06/27/wiener-dog-and-the-neon-demon-reviews)

Word of the day: solecism

The word of the day is solecism:

1. a nonstandard or ungrammatical usage, as unflammable and they was.
2. a breach of good manners or etiquette.
3. any error, impropriety, or inconsistency.

1577, from M.Fr. solécisme, from L. soloecismus "mistake in speaking or writing," from Gk. soloikismos "to speak (Greek) incorrectly," from soloikos "ungrammatical utterance," prop. "a speaking like the people of Soloi," from Soloi, Athenian colony in Cilicia, whose dialect the Athenians considered barbarous.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/solecism)

"The waitresses seemed harassed and incompetent, teen-age girls with untidy hair.  'Enjoy,' one of them said.

“'An expression I deplore for its being a grammatical goofball,' Floyd said.  And to Jonty, 'A solecism, as you might put it.'”

 - Paul Theroux, "Upside-Down Cake", 27 June 2016 The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/06/27/upside-down-cake-by-paul-theroux)

Word of the day: thewy

The word of the day is thewy:

1. Usually, thews. muscle or sinew.
2. thews, physical strength.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/thewy)

“'My favorite was the al-dente pasta,' Rose said. 'With the Bolo sauce.'

“'Both were thewy and farinaceous,' Floyd said, tearing at a piece of bread. 'And what was that witches’ brew we had on Saturday nights, with the crunchy undercooked onion? And the fatty meat—that was the best part!'”

 - Paul Theroux, "Upside-Down Cake", 27 June 2016 The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/06/27/upside-down-cake-by-paul-theroux)

Word of the day: blesbok

The word of the day is blesbok:

1. a large antelope, Damaliscus albifrons, of southern Africa, having a blaze on the face.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/blesbok)

"The high veldt rolled away, in shades of coffee and wheat.  We passed blesbok, oryx, wildebeest."

 - Paige Williams, "Digging for glory", 27 June 2016 The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/06/27/lee-berger-digs-for-bones-and-glory)

Word of the day: calcrete

The word of the day is calcrete:

calcrete, also called Hardpan, calcium-rich duricrust, a hardened layer in or on a soil. It is formed on calcareous materials as a result of climatic fluctuations in arid and semiarid regions. Calcite is dissolved in groundwater and, under drying conditions, is precipitated as the water evaporates at the surface. Rainwater saturated with carbon dioxide acts as an acid and also dissolves calcite and then redeposits it as a precipitate on the surfaces of the soil particles; as the interstitial soil spaces are filled, an impermeable crust is formed.

(http://www.britannica.com/science/calcrete)

"The bones may be more than ten thousand years old, the scientists decide; a prominent brow ridge on one skull compounds the sense that the creature had an 'almost freakish' appearance.

"The brow bone, however, turns out to be a calcrete deposit often found in caves."

 - Paige Williams, "Digging for glory", 27 June 2016 The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/06/27/lee-berger-digs-for-bones-and-glory)

Word of the day: styptic

The word of the day is styptic:

1. serving to contract organic tissue; astringent; binding.
2. serving to check hemorrhage or bleeding, as a drug; hemostatic.

c.1400, from O.Fr. stiptique, from L. stypticus "astringent," from Gk. styptikos, from styphein "to constrict, draw together." Spelling influenced by L. and Gk. words.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/styptic)

"The main medicinal use of alum was, as it still is today, as an astringent to improve wound healing. The modern styptic used to close up razor nicks occurring after wet shaving is alum-based."

 - David Rickard, "The Many Faces of Fool's Gold", May-June 2016 American Scientist (http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2016/3/the-many-faces-of-fools-gold/1)

Word of the day: alum

The word of the day is alum:

1. Also called potash alum, potassium alum. a crystalline solid, aluminum potassium sulfate, K ₂ SO ₄ ⋅Al ₂ (SO ₄ )₃ ⋅24H ₂ O, used in medicine as an astringent and styptic, in dyeing and tanning, and in many technical processes.
2. one of a class of double sulfates analogous to the potassium alum, as aluminum ammonium sulfate, having the general formula R ₂ SO ₄ ⋅X ₂ (SO ₄) ₃ ⋅24H ₂ O, where R is a univalent alkali metal or ammonium, and X one of a number of trivalent metals.
3. (not in technical use) aluminum sulfate.

early 14c., "whitish mineral salt used as an astringent, dye, etc.," from O.Fr. alum, from L. alumen "alum," lit. "bitter salt," cognate with Gk. aludoimos "bitter" and Eng. ale.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alum)

"The production of one mordant, pure alum, from pyrite has been described as the point of origin of the modern chemical industry, because the process required not only the manufacture of a chemical substance but also its purification."

 - David Rickard, "The Many Faces of Fool's Gold", May-June 2016 American Scientist (http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2016/3/the-many-faces-of-fools-gold/1)

Word of the day: mordant

The word of the day is mordant:

4. a substance used in dyeing to fix the coloring matter, especially a metallic compound, as an oxide or hydroxide, that combines with the organic dye and forms an insoluble colored compound or lake in the fiber.

late 15c., "caustic" (of words, speech), from M.Fr. mordant, lit. "biting," prp. of mordre "to bite," from L. mordere "to bite or sting" (see smart (v.)). Related: Mordantly. The noun sense in dyeing is first recorded 1791; the adj. in this sense is from 1902.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mordant)

"Sulfuric acid is a relatively recent manufactured chemical.  Prior to this, the important analogous chemical substances were the sulfate salts of iron, copper, and aluminum, known to the ancients as the vitriols...  They were used as mordants in the dyeing industry. In order for natural dyes to be fixed in the cloth—and not be washed out during the next rainy day—it is necessary to treat the cloth with a mordant. The mordants widely used in dyeing were solutions of the vitriols."

 - David Rickard, "The Many Faces of Fool's Gold", May-June 2016 American Scientist (http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2016/3/the-many-faces-of-fools-gold/1)

Word of the day: invidious

The word of the day is invidious:

1. calculated to create ill will or resentment or give offense; hateful
2. offensively or unfairly discriminating; injurious
3. causing or tending to cause animosity, resentment, or envy
4. Obsolete, envious.

c.1600, from L. invidiosus "envious," from invidia "ill will" (see envy).

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/invidious)

"When the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices requires that the yellow change interval be determined by application of 'engineering practices,' such practices necessarily include using engineering judgment, which may not be quantifiable but is certainly not invidious."

 - Henry Petroski, "Traffic Signals, Dilemma Zones, and Red-Light Cameras", May-June 2016 American Scientist (http://www.americanscientist.org/my_amsci/restricted.aspx?act=pdf&id=61634462538130)

Word of the day: tholin

The word of the day is tholin:

an abiotic complex organic solid that formed by chemistry from energy input into simple, cosmically relevant gases or solids. Shorter still, “abiotic complex organic gunk” works for me.

‘tholins’ (Gk ϴὸλος, muddy; but also ϴoλòς, vault or dome), although we were tempted by the phrase ‘star-tar’.

(http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2015/0722-what-in-the-worlds-are-tholins.html)

"Spectral analysis indicated water-ice highlands, coated with red tholins, organics formed by the solar irradiation of molecules such as methane or ethane."

 - "Year One of our New View of Pluto", May-June 2016 The American Scientist (http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/2016/3/year-one-of-our-new-view-of-pluto)