Word of the day: tyro

The word of the day is tyro:

1. a beginner in learning anything; novice.

1611, from M.L. tyro, variant of L. tiro (pl. tirones) "young soldier, recruit, beginner," of unknown origin.

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

"Over the next thirty years he worked in seventeen campaigns across Europe.  But he made his first important discovery while a tyro."

 - Sam Kean, The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery

word of the day: volte-face

The word of the day is volte-face:

 

Etymology:  French, < Italian volta faccia, < volta turn + faccia face.

 

The act of turning so as to face in the opposite direction; fig. a complete change of attitude or opinion. (OED)

"This was quite a volte-face for Morgan, but it was just the start.  The eye-color ratios convinced him that gene theory wasn't bunk."

 - Sam Kean, The Violinist's Thumb and Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by our Genetic Code

word of the day: loupe

The word of the day is loupe:

Etymology:  French: compare loop n.⁴

 

A small magnifier used by a watchmaker or jeweller. (OED)

"Morgan set himself up at the fly room's central desk.  Cockroaches scuttled through his drawers, nibbling rotten fruit, and the room was a cacophony of buzzing, but Morgan stood unperturbed in the middle of all, peering through a jeweler's loupe, scrutinizing bottle after bottle for de Vries's mutants.""

 - Sam Kean, The Violinist's Thumb and Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by our Genetic Code

word of the day: emprise

The word of the day is emprise:

Etymology:  < Old French emprise, emprinse, Common Romanic = Provençal empreza, Spanish empresa, Italian impresa < late Latin *imprensa, < participial stem of *imprendĕre (in Old French emprendre) to take in hand, < in- in + prehendĕre to take.

arch.

1.a. An undertaking, enterprise; esp. one of an adventurous or chivalrous nature. 

b. A purpose, intent. Obs. 

2.a. abstr. Chivalric enterprise, martial prowess. 

b. Difficulty, greatness of undertaking. Obs. 

c. Pre-occupation, absorption of thought. Obs. 

3.a. Renown, glory, distinction. Obs. 

b. Value, estimation. Obs.  [? Influenced by price n.] 

4. ? Spoil, prey. Obs. (OED)

"So when Galton designed an equally elegant experiment to hunt for gemmules in rabbits, Darwin heartily encouraged the emprise."

 - Sam Kean, The Violinist's Thumb and Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by our Genetic Code

word of the day: arrack

The word of the day is arrack:

Etymology:  Ultimately Arabic, ʿaraq sweat, juice, especially in ʿaraq at-tamr ‘the (fermented) juice of the date,’ whence extended to all sorts of fermented beverages.

 

A name applied in Eastern countries to any spirituous liquor of native manufacture; especially, that distilled from the fermented sap of the coco-palm, or from rice and sugar, fermented with the coco-nut juice. (OED)

"The expo was as much a social affair as a scientific endeavor: as patrons wandered through exhibits about sanitation and sewers, they gulped mint juleps and spiked arrack punch and kumiss (fermented mare's milk produced by horses on-site) and generally had a gay old time."

 - Sam Kean, The Violinist's Thumb and Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by our Genetic Code