A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Wed Jul 1 12:01:01 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Crichtonism X-Bonus: One's first step in wisdom is to question everything -- and one's last is to come to terms with everything. -Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, scientist and philosopher (1 Jul 1742-1799) This week's theme: Eponyms Crichtonism (KRY-tuh-niz-uhm) noun Extraordinary accomplishment in many fields. [After James Crichton (1560-1582), a Scottish scholar, linguist, debater, and man of letters whose reputation for wide-ranging brilliance led to the epithet the Admirable Crichton. Earliest documented use: 1850.] "James, 'The Admirable', Crichton" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/crichtonism_large.jpg Art: Attributed to the Italian School, late 16th century https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anonymous_-_James,_%22The_Admirable%22,_Crichton_(1560-85%5E)_-_RCIN_401233_-_Royal_Collection.jpg NOTES: James Crichton was a young Scot with a reputation as a polymath, https://wordsmith.org/words/polymath.html or polyhistor. https://wordsmith.org/words/polyhistor.html He is said to have entered college at 10 and taken both bachelor's and master's degrees by 14 or 15. Accounts credited him with a dazzling range of accomplishments, including medicine, law, astronomy, arms, horsemanship, philosophy, music, and debate. According to the writer Sir Thomas Urquhart, Crichton issued a challenge in Paris to answer questions in "any science, liberal art, discipline, or faculty, whether practical or theoretic". Maybe, I thought. But when I read that he offered to answer any question in any field in _12 languages_, my bullshit detector went into overdrive. Sure, Jan. Let's just say Urquhart's account of the Admirable Crichton was a bit embellished. And by "a bit", I mean he turned a talented polymath into a Renaissance superhero. "Zuleika Dobson typifies the irreverent deflation of the myth of Crichtonism which was prevalent at the turn of the century." Mortimer R. Proctor; The English University Novel; University of California Press; 1957. "[The Dean] was a brilliant light at Oxford, and came over to illumine our darkness, and if pedantry could only supply the deficiency in the potato crop, he would be a providence to the land. His affectation is to know everything ... His failures in these attempts at Admirable Crichtonism would abash even confidence great as his." Charles Lever; Roland Cashel; Chapman and Hall; 1850. -------- Date: Thu Jul 2 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Mona Lisa X-Bonus: In order for me to write poetry that isn't political / I must listen to the birds / and in order to hear the birds / the warplanes must be silent. -Marwan Makhoul, poet (b. 2 Jul 1979) This week's theme: Eponyms Mona Lisa (MOH-nuh LEE-suh/zuh) noun: A woman with an enigmatic smile or expression. adjective: Enigmatic, mysterious, or inscrutable, especially of a smile or expression. [After Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa (c. 1503-1519). Earliest documented use: 1835.] "Mona-Leo", 1988 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/mona_lisa_large.jpg Print: Lillian Schwartz / The Henry Ford https://www.thehenryford.org/collections/explore/artifact/522330?AssetId=THF628991 NOTES: According to a 2005 emotion-recognition analysis, the Mona Lisa is "83% happy, 9% disgusted, 6% fearful, and 2% angry." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4530650.stm Computer artist Lillian Schwartz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Schwartz of Bell Labs proposed a Mona-Leo theory, arguing from digital comparisons that the portrait was partly a disguised self-portrait by Leonardo. What do you think? "[Franz Welser-Möst, the music director of the Cleveland Orchestra] was neither solemn nor particularly expressive; he just flashed a Mona Lisa smile before turning to the players and gesturing the downbeat of a Mozart symphony." Joshua Barone; Preparing to Surrender the Baton; The New York Times; Jan 14, 2024. -------- Date: Fri Jul 3 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Comstock Lode X-Bonus: There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking. -Alfred Korzybski, engineer, mathematician, and philosopher (3 Jul 1879-1950) This week's theme: Eponyms Comstock Lode (KUHM/KOM-stahk LOHD) noun A rich supply or source, especially one that seems inexhaustible. [After Henry T.P. Comstock (c. 1820-1870), a prospector whose name is attached to the rich silver-and-gold deposit discovered in 1859 near what is now Virginia City, Nevada. Earliest documented use: 1866.] "Mining on the Comstock", 1876 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/comstock_lode_large.jpg Art: T.L. Dawes https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsc.01032/ NOTES: The California Gold Rush began in 1848-49; about a decade later, Nevada had its own silver rush. In 1859, prospectors uncovered a rich silver-and-gold deposit near what became Virginia City. It drew a rush of prospectors, led to large-scale mining, and helped Nevada become known as the Silver State. Henry Comstock was not the heroic discoverer the name might imply. He was one of the early claim holders around the site, and the lode wound up with his name. A reminder that history, like mining, sometimes rewards whoever is standing nearest the shiny thing. The phrase Comstock Lode is sometimes shortened to the Comstock. Not to be confused with comstockery, https://wordsmith.org/words/comstockery.html from Anthony Comstock, a different Comstock with a different lode of censoriousness. See also Golconda. https://wordsmith.org/words/golconda.html "There was only light, and light is intangible. You cannot slice off an inch of the spectrum and put it in your pocket. The people who had come to exploit this Comstock Lode of the miraculous, found themselves painfully frustrated." Aldous Huxley; Adonis and the Alphabet and Other Essays; Chatto & Windus; 1956. -------- Date: Mon Jul 6 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--somewhen X-Bonus: Animal factories are one more sign of the extent to which our technological capacities have advanced faster than our ethics. -Peter Singer, philosopher, professor of bioethics (b. 6 Jul 1946) The adverb is the whipping boy of language. When a novel stalls, a poem goes nowhere, or writer's block plants its heavy feet on the sofa, professional writers often blame the nearest adverb. The thinking seems to go: My manuscript is not moving. Perhaps I should whip out an essay with writerly advice on why no one should ever write _slowly_. Mark Twain, Stephen King, V.S. Naipaul, Kurt Vonnegut, and a battalion of workshop advice givers have all taken a swing at the poor POS. That is, part of speech, just so we are clear. And, of course, Strunk and White, those two hall monitors of the sentence. Around here, we do not play favorites with any POS. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs: all are children of the same unruly language. This week, we'll show the adverb a little languagy love. We'll feature a few adverbs proudly wearing their -ly suffixes, and a few that refuse to conform. Use them in your own writing, but use them judiciously. One can overuse anything, including adverbs, writing advice, and the word judiciously. somewhen (SUHM-(h)wen) adverb At some indefinite or unspecified time; sometime. [From Old English sum (some) + when, from Old English hwenne. Earliest documented use: 1297.] NOTES: _Somewhen_ is the ultimate excuse for procrastinators who refuse to be pinned down by the linear constraints of a clock. I told my editor I'd have the revised manuscript over to her somewhen. She told me she'd pay me somemoney. DRIVE SLOWly https://wordsmith.org/words/images/somewhen_large.jpg Photo: Eli Reusch https://flickr.com/photos/eli_reusch/2912898000/ "It is fun to know that serious scientists believe the fabulous alternate realities of the Philip Pullman novels could be accurate descriptions of reality (for in a multiverse of infinite size and scope there will, somewhere and somewhen, be a world where a little girl called Lyra befriends a talking polar bear and where people's souls take the form of animal familiars)." Michael Hanlon; Reality Check Required; New Scientist (London, UK); Feb 9, 2008. -------- Date: Tue Jul 7 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dispositively X-Bonus: People's souls are like gardens. You can't turn your back on someone because his garden's full of weeds. You have to give him water and lots of sunshine. -Nancy Farmer, author (b. 7 Jul 1941) This week's theme: Adverbs dispositively (dis-POZ-uh-tiv-lee) adverb Conclusively; so as to settle the matter. [From dispositive, https://wordsmith.org/words/dispositive.html from dispose, from Old French disposer, from Latin disponere (to arrange), from dis- (apart) + ponere (to put). Earliest documented use: 1475.] Vestal virgins signal death for the defeated gladiator (detail) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/dispositively.jpg "Pollice Verso", 1872 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/dispositively_large.jpg Art: Jean-Léon Gérôme https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollice_Verso_(G%C3%A9r%C3%B4me) "Who can dispositively argue that this analysis is wrong?" William F. Buckley Jr.; Should We Have Gone to War?; National Review (New York); Aug 9, 2004. -------- Date: Wed Jul 8 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--yonder X-Bonus: What is called discretion in men is called cunning in animals. -Jean de la Fontaine, poet and fabulist (8 Jul 1621-1695) This week's theme: Adverbs yonder (YON-duhr)    adverb: Over there; at a relatively distant place. adjective: Being over there; farther away. [From yond (at a distance), from Old English geond (beyond, at a distance, over there). Earliest documented use: before 1300.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/yonder NOTES: Yonder is the world's least precise indicator. Depending entirely on the vigor with which a person points their finger, yonder can mean anything from "just across the street" to "a three-day horseback ride past the mountains." "Over Yonder", 1909 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/yonder_large.jpg Art: N.C. Wyeth https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/199980 "I stopped right yonder and waited for them to reach the other side." David Sedaris; Goodyear; The New Yorker; Jan 29, 2024. -------- Date: Thu Jul 9 12:01:01 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lubberly X-Bonus: I wanted to live my life so that people would know unmistakably that I am alive, so that when I finally die people will know the difference for sure between my living and my death. -June Jordan, writer, teacher, and activist (9 Jul 1936-2002) This week's theme: Adverbs lubberly (LUHB-uhr-lee) adverb: Clumsily, awkwardly, or unskillfully. adjective: Clumsy, awkward, or unskilled; not seamanlike. [From lubber (a clumsy or inexperienced person, especially an inept sailor). Earliest documented use: 1580.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/lubberly "Sailors on Horseback", 1811 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/lubberly_large.jpg Art: Thomas Rowlandson https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/811529 "She moves lubberly, but with great concentration." Valzhyna Mort; "Zhenya"; Collected Body; Copper Canyon Press; 2011. -------- Date: Fri Jul 10 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nigh X-Bonus: The truth is that every morning war is declared afresh. And the men who wish to continue it are as guilty as the men who began it, more guilty perhaps, for the latter perhaps did not foresee all its horrors. -Marcel Proust, novelist (10 Jul 1871-1922) This week's theme: Adverbs nigh (ny) adverb: Nearly; almost. adjective: Near. preposition: Near. [From Old English neh (near). Earliest documented use: before 1150.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/nigh "The Beginning Is Nigh" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/nigh_large.jpg Photo: Adam Rummer https://flickr.com/photos/adamrummer/6784124091/ "The carbon emissions produced when peatlands burn may be well nigh irreversible." World on Fire; The Economist (London, UK); Aug 24, 2024. -------- Date: Mon Jul 13 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--arete X-Bonus: The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny. -Wole Soyinka, playwright, poet, Nobel laureate (b. 13 Jul 1934) With some half a million words in English, you might think every meaning could have its own private spelling. But English is a crowded city, and many words have roommates, tenants, subtenants, and one suspicious cousin sleeping on the hyphen. Some are homographs: different words sharing the same spelling, as with bass the fish and bass the low voice. Others show polysemy: one word branching into related senses over time, as with head as a body part and head as a leader of a group. This week we'll meet words that refuse to be pinned down by just one meaning. They contain multitudes. Should they contradict themselves, English merely gives them another room. arete (for 1: ar-uh-TAY, for 2: uh-RAYT/RET) noun 1. Virtue or excellence, especially the realization of one's potential. 2. A sharp, narrow mountain ridge. [For 1: From Greek arete (goodness, excellence). For 2: From French arête (fishbone, ridge, or edge), from Latin arista (ear of corn). Earliest documented use: 1838.] NOTES: The Greek arete was not only moral virtue. A knife, horse, craft, or human being could each have its own excellence: its best self, honed to a fine edge. For the ridge sense, often spelled as in French, arête, the word refers to a thin, jagged crest formed by glacial erosion. That little circumflex in arête is a good visual aid: a tiny mountain ridge perched on the word. In French, the circumflex often marks a vanished s, as in forêt/forest or hôpital/hospital. In arête itself, the lost s survives in the older form areste, a fossil wearing a hat. Ultimately, if you achieve excellence in mountaineering, you have fulfilled both senses of the word. That is peak arete. The English language would be proud of you. See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/arete "The Choice of Hercules" Hercules deciding between Virtue (Arete) and Vice https://wordsmith.org/words/images/arete_virtue_large.jpg Moral high ground Art: Annibale Carracci, 1596 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arete#/media/File:Annibale_Carracci_-_The_Choice_of_Heracles_-_WGA4416.jpg Garden Wall of Glacier National Park https://wordsmith.org/words/images/arete_mountain_large.jpg Literal high ground Photo: Jacob W. Frank / NPS https://www.nps.gov/articles/nunataksareteshorns.htm "Classical comedy is based upon the division of mankind into two classes, those who have arete and those who do not, and only the second class, fools, shameless rascals, slaves, are fit subjects for comedy." W.H. Auden; The Dyer's Hand and Other Essays; Random House; 1962. "'Dalton trains people's minds,' [Herman Smalls] went on. 'My arete is to train people's bodies.'" Courtney E. Martin; Learning for Free; The Village Voice (New York); Apr 14, 2004. "I come to an airy arete -- the first solid rock all day." Vitaliy Musiyenko; Surviving Goliath; Climbing (Boulder, Colorado); Spring 2022. -------- Date: Tue Jul 14 12:01:01 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--coprology X-Bonus: Live your life as an experiment. -Pema Chodron, Buddhist nun and author (b. 14 Jul 1936) This week's theme: Words with multiple meanings coprology (kuh-PROL-uh-jee) noun 1. The scientific study of excrement. 2. Pornographic material. 3. Language, literature, or art dealing with excretory matters in a prurient or humorous manner. [From Greek kopro- (dung) + -logy (study). Earliest documented use: 1856.] "Artist's Shit No. 014", 1961. Metal, paper, and artist's shit https://wordsmith.org/words/images/coprology_large.jpg Art: Piero Manzoni / MoMA https://www.moma.org/collection/works/80768 NOTES: A better-known synonym of today's word is scatology. https://wordsmith.org/words/scatology.html Some other words from the same Greek root are coprolalia https://wordsmith.org/words/coprolalia.html (compulsive use of obscene language) and coprolite https://wordsmith.org/words/coprolite.html (fossilized dung). Lexicography leaves no stone unturned; coprology leaves no turd unstoned. "There's a hint of Terry Gilliam-style coprology in the visualisation of the airborne machine inside a giant meatball, squeezing out food through its fleshy bowels (Miyazaki Hayao's Spirited Away had similar scatological overtones)." Andrew Osmond; Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs; Sight and Sound (London, UK); Dec 2009. "A large part of [the author Lyndal Roper's] story is the sheer coarseness of [Martin Luther's] language, the deranged coprology that fed his many hatreds, in particular of the Jews and of the popes." A.N. Wilson; When Faith Found Its Article 50; New Statesman (London, UK); Jul 29, 2016. -------- Date: Wed Jul 15 12:01:03 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--noodle X-Bonus: The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart. -Iris Murdoch, writer (15 Jul 1919-1999) This week's theme: Words with multiple meanings noodle (NOOD-l) noun: 1. A long narrow strip of dough, usually cooked by boiling. 2. Head. 3. A fool; a simpleton. verb intr.: 1. To improvise on an instrument in a haphazard or casual way. 2. To improvise, experiment, or play around. 3. To catch or try to catch fish, especially catfish, by hand. [For noun 1: From German Nudel (noodle). For noun 2-3: Perhaps an alteration of noddle (head). For verb 1-2: Perhaps imitative. For verb 3: Origin unknown. Earliest documented use: 1720.] NOTES: If a fool eats pasta while playing jazz with one hand while trying to catch a catfish by the other hand what is he doing? Also see noodly. https://wordsmith.org/words/noodly.html "Soba Noodle Stand at Night", 1950 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/noodle_large.jpg Art: Tokuriki Tomikichiro https://www.rawpixel.com/image/10143647/soba-noodle-stand-night-1950-showa-tokuriki-tomikichiro See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/noodle "The kid who once noodled around making things has now won the $30,000 Rigg Design Prize at the National Gallery of Victoria." Sonia Harford; House and Home Inspire Rigg Design Prize Winner; The Age (Melbourne, Australia); Sep 18, 2015. "The puppet success during the pandemic took Margolis back to an idea that had been developing in his noodle." Dan Rodricks; Children Need to See Fewer Guns, More Puppets; The Baltimore Sun (Maryland); Jun 24, 2022. -------- Date: Thu Jul 16 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hock X-Bonus: Nothing limits intelligence more than ignorance; nothing fosters ignorance more than one's own opinions; nothing strengthens opinions more than refusing to look at reality. -Sheri S. Tepper, novelist (16 Jul 1929-2016) This week's theme: Words with multiple meanings hock (hok, rhymes with clock) verb tr.: To disable by cutting the tendons of the hock; to hamstring; to make ineffective. (also see hamstring https://wordsmith.org/words/hamstring.html and hough https://wordsmith.org/words/hough.html .) noun: The joint in the hind leg of a quadruped animal, such as a horse, corresponding anatomically to the human ankle. verb tr.: To pawn. noun: 1. The state of being pawned. 2. Debt. 3. Prison. verb tr.: To forcefully spit out something, such as phlegm. [For the leg-related senses: a variant of hough, from Old English hoh (heel). For the pawn-related senses: from Dutch hok (pen, hutch, kennel, prison). For the spit-related sense: a variant of hawk, of imitative origin. Earliest documented use: 1540.] NOTES: This word has several unrelated lives. A horse has hocks, a debtor may be in hock, a person may hock a loogie, and a Brit may once have ordered hock, a Rhine wine named for Hochheim, with dinner. English looked at one syllable and decided to sublet it. See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/hock "Whistlejacket", c. 1762 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/hock_large.jpg Art: George Stubbs https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/george-stubbs-whistlejacket "My therapist actually asked me, 'What do you like about horses?' And I said, 'Everything ... everything from the hock and the hoof to the nostrils and the thighs and the neck and the way the neck curves and the muscles along the flank.'" Alexa Tsoulis-Reay; Atypical: What it Means to See Yourself as Different; New York (New York); Feb 23, 2015. "Huck Cheever is a gambling addict who has hocked his possessions." David Denby; Games of Chance; The New Yorker; May 14, 2007. "Midmovie, he leaned over and hocked a loogie on the wall next to him." Worst Dates Ever!; Cosmopolitan (New York); Mar 2015. -------- Date: Fri Jul 17 12:01:03 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gamy X-Bonus: Never underestimate the determination of a kid who is time rich and cash poor. -Cory Doctorow, author and journalist (b. 17 Jul 1971) This week's theme: Words with multiple meanings gamy or gamey (GAY-mee) adjective 1. Having the flavor or odor of game, especially game meat. 2. Having the flavor or odor of meat kept until slightly tainted. 3. Ill-smelling; rank. 4. Sordid, seamy, corrupt, or disreputable. 5. Suggestive or racy. 6. Plucky or spirited. [From game (wild animals hunted for food or sport; fighting spirit). Earliest documented use: 1820.] NOTES: Not to be confused with -gamy, as in monogamy and bigamy, which is from Greek gamos (marriage). This gamy comes from game. But with so many senses under one roof, the word is practicing a kind of lexical polygamy. See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/gamy "Bandits' Roost, 59 1/2 Mulberry Street", 1888 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/gamy_large.jpg Photo: Jacob Riis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandits%27_Roost,_59_1/2_Mulberry_Street "Usually we keep an anxious eye on sell-by dates to avoid gamy meat." Taryn White; The Mother of Soul Food; Smithsonian (Washington, DC); Jun 2023. "The film [Oldboy], directed by Park Chanwook, has a gamy, ill-lit seediness." Anthony Lane; Revenge; The New Yorker; Mar 28, 2005. "[Conrad] Black once described its success as being based on a formula that includes ... 'presenting Britain's gamiest, kinkiest, most salacious, and most scatological news with apparent sobriety but with the most explicit, almost sadistic detail.'" Brenda Dalglish; A Bite of the Big Apple; Maclean's (Toronto, Canada); Jun 8, 1992. "[Gerald Zukowski of Putnam Capital Appreciation]: I'm buying some really gamy little companies." Eric J. Savitz; Simply the Best; Barron's (New York); Jul 21, 1997. -------- Date: Mon Jul 20 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--auspicate X-Bonus: To be able to say how much you love is to love but little. -Petrarch, scholar and poet (20 Jul 1304-1374) Did you know that a bugle has an ox in it, a canopy has a mosquito, and a pavilion has a butterfly? Before you call pest control or animal rescue, bear with us. It's not obvious from their looks, but bugle ultimately goes back to Latin buculus (young ox or bullock), because early bugles were ox-horn signaling instruments. Canopy comes from Greek konops (mosquito or gnat), because it originally referred to a bed curtain that kept the little bloodsuckers away. And pavilion comes from Latin papilio (butterfly), from the resemblance of a tent to spread wings. Similarly, this week's words are a lexical menagerie in disguise. Their spellings look innocent, but tucked into the underbrush of etymology are a bird, a spider, a fish, a sheep, and a hedgehog. Think of them as words with zoological contraband: harmless-looking syllables at the border, carrying feathers, webs, scales, wool, and quills in their luggage. auspicate (AW-spi-kayt) verb tr. To begin an undertaking, especially with a ceremony intended to bring good luck. [From Latin auspex (one who observes birds), from avis (bird) + -spex (watcher), from specere (to look). Earliest documented use: 1604.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/auspicate NOTES: Etymologically speaking, to auspicate is to birdwatch. In ancient Rome, an official called an auspex or augur looked for divine approval by observing birds: how they flew, called, or fed. Because, naturally, whether the birds pecked with gusto could decide whether an army marched, an election proceeded, or everyone went home kibitzing. https://wordsmith.org/words/kibitz.html Professional bird-omen consultants are scarce today, but the market for the future remains crowded: tarot-card readers, palm readers, and other vendors of Delphic https://wordsmith.org/words/delphic.html mumbo-jumbo are still ready to take your money and, in return, tell you what the universe allegedly meant to say. Related words include auspices https://wordsmith.org/words/auspices.html and auspicious. The word inaugurate is also related: Latin inaugurare meant to take omens from birds, or to consecrate or install when the omens were favorable. An augur stands behind the covered Numa Pompilius at an auspicium ceremony to look at the sign from the birds on whether Numa was fit to be the future king of Rome. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/auspicate_large.jpg Engraving: Bernhard Rode, 1768-69 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AEin_Augur.jpg "Toward the end of the month he auspicated a lecture tour on the economy." R Emmett Tyrrell, Jr; The Continuing Crisis; The American Spectator (Bloomington, Indiana); Sep/Oct 2013. -------- Date: Tue Jul 21 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ettercap X-Bonus: Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime. Ask the infantry and ask the dead. -Ernest Hemingway, author and journalist, Nobel laureate (21 Jul 1899-1961) This week's theme: Words with hidden animals ettercap or attercop (ET-uhr-kap or AT-uhr-kop) noun 1. A bad-tempered or spiteful person. 2. A spider. [A variant of attercop, from Old English attorcoppa, from ator (poison, venom) + coppa (spider). It's the same element that shows up in cobweb, literally spider's web. Earliest documented use: before 1525.] "The Crying Spider", 1881 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/ettercap_large.jpg Art: Odilon Redon https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ARedon_crying-spider.jpg NOTES: If you know someone who is always spinning webs of gossip or ready to bite your head off, this is the perfect label for them. The form attercop got a modern boost from J.R.R. Tolkien in "The Hobbit". Bilbo Baggins uses it to taunt the giant, venomous spiders of Mirkwood, and the insult works. No spider, Tolkien tells us, has ever liked being called attercop. "At least we can see the auld ettercap into the ground now, Christ be praised." Pat McIntosh; The Counterfeit Madam; Constable; 2011. -------- Date: Wed Jul 22 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--expiscate X-Bonus: Illness is in part what the world has done to a victim, but in a larger part it is what the victim has done with his world. -Karl A. Menninger, psychiatrist (22 Jul 1893-1990) This week's theme: Words with hidden animals expiscate (EK-spuh-skayt, ek-SPIS-kayt) verb tr. To fish out; to find out by careful investigation. [From Latin expiscari (to fish out), from ex- (out) + piscari (to fish), from piscis (fish). Earliest documented use: 1598.] "The Goldfish", 1925 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/expiscate_large.jpg Art: Paul Klee https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_Klee,_Der_Goldfisch.jpg NOTES: We use a lot of fishing metaphors when talking about uncovering information. We cast a wide net, reel in the evidence, and try not to get distracted by red herrings. Expiscate takes that metaphor and dresses it up in a tuxedo. "I will next take up in turn a few further items of importance, expiscating them one by one." Wyndham Lewis; Time and Western Man; Chatto & Windus; 1927. -------- Date: Thu Jul 23 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bellwether X-Bonus: There are two kinds of truth: the truth that lights the way and the truth that warms the heart. The first of these is science, and the second is art. Neither is independent of the other or more important than the other. Without art, science would be as useless as a pair of high forceps in the hands of a plumber. Without science, art would become a crude mess of folklore and emotional quackery. The truth of art keeps science from becoming inhuman, and the truth of science keeps art from becoming ridiculous. -Raymond Thornton Chandler, writer (23 Jul 1888-1959) This week's theme: Words with hidden animals bellwether (BEL-weth-uhr) noun 1. An indicator of future trends. 2. A leader or trendsetter. [From Old English belle (bell) + wether (castrated ram). Earliest documented use: c. 1440.] NOTES: No weather here. A wether is a castrated male sheep, and a bellwether was the wether that led the flock while wearing a bell. The bell let the shepherd know where the flock was, and the wether was a more manageable fellow than an intact ram. Eventually the word wandered out of the pasture and into politics, business, and journalism, where bellwethers now lead trends or indicate where the herd is headed. See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/bellwether https://wordsmith.org/words/images/bellwether_large.jpg Art: Betony Coons http://www.betonycoons.com/ "Walmart, the supermarket bellwether for middle America, reported that transactions in the first quarter this year rose at their fastest pace since 2024." A Firm Mattress; The Economist (London, UK); Jun 27, 2026. -------- Date: Fri Jul 24 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--echinate X-Bonus: So I accept these awards on behalf of the cake bakers and all of those other women who can do some things quite as important, if not more important, than flying, as well as in the name of women flying today. -Amelia Earhart (24 Jul 1897-1937) This week's theme: Words with hidden animals echinate (EK-uh-nayt) adjective Spiny or bristly. [From Latin echinus (hedgehog, sea urchin), from Greek ekhinos (hedgehog, sea urchin). Earliest documented use: 1668.] "A Hedgehog", c. 1584 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/echinate_large.jpg Art: Hans Hoffmann https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/370476 NOTES: Something echinate is armed with bristles, prickles, or spines: a hedgehog in adjective form. Botanists may use it for a spiny seed pod or bristly pollen grain; the rest of us can use it for any question that should be handled with gloves. "Joseph C. Hough Jr., president of Union Theological Seminary in New York, has been raising this echinate question in recent months. In speeches and in widely disseminated interviews with The New York Times and National Public Radio, Hough has suggested that Christians adopt a different way of viewing other faiths. He says that simply tolerating other faiths is 'not sufficient in a world of religious pluralism'." Bill Tammeus; Holy Land; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin); Mar 31, 2002. -------- Date: Mon Jul 27 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--antipelargy X-Bonus: It was my shame, and now it is my boast, That I have loved you rather more than most. -Hilaire Belloc, writer and poet (27 Jul 1870-1953) This week, don't trust the prefix. The front of a word isn't always upfront. Anti-, mis-, with-, de-, and dis- seem to announce what follows; instead, they lead us toward five plausible, and wrong, first impressions. Language is messy, history is long, and etymology rarely travels light. These words come carrying centuries of baggage, none of it declared at customs. Read the label, then read the fine print. The prefixes aren't exactly lying; history has simply given them ample plausible deniability. The devil, as always, is in the derivation. antipelargy (an-ti-peh-LAR-jee) noun The love and care children return to their parents; more broadly, any requital or mutual kindness. [Via French antipelargie or Latin antipelargia, ultimately from Greek anti- (in return) + pelargos (stork). Greek and Roman writers claimed that young storks fed their aged parents, making the stork an emblem of filial devotion. Earliest documented English use: 1649.] NOTES: Antipelargy is not anti- anything, at least not in the usual "against" sense. If you insist, you could say it is anti-neglecting-your-parents. To see why, we have to go to the storks. They bring us babies, but their mythical job description did not stop there. Ancient Greeks credited them with elder care: young storks were said to feed their aged parents. Later tradition even had them carry the old birds about. No Uber; they had to wing it. So, what is anti- doing here? Greek anti- has senses besides "against": it can also mean "in return" or "in exchange." Compare antiphony, in which singers or choirs answer one another. They are not feuding; they are simply taking turns. "Piety", before 1626 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/antipelargy_large.jpg Artist unknown https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_-_Piety_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg "The stage directions following this speech show Cuba elevating the restored father to the honorable place of the throne while the brothers clasp hands, along with a comment praising 'noble piety', the antipelargy of the virtuous family." Andrew S. Keener; Japan Dramas and Shakespeare at St. Omers English Jesuit College; Renaissance Quarterly (Cambridge, UK); Fall 2021. -------- Date: Tue Jul 28 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--misdoubt X-Bonus: I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste. -Marcel Duchamp, artist (28 Jul 1887-1968) This week's theme: Misleading words misdoubt (mis-DAUT) verb tr.: To doubt or suspect. verb intr.: To have doubts. noun: Doubt or suspicion. [From mis- + doubt, from Old French doter (to doubt or fear), from Latin dubitare (to doubt or hesitate). The doubt element is ultimately from the Indo-European root dwo- (two), which also gave us dual, double, dubious, doubt, diploma, twin, between, and didymous (occurring in pairs). Earliest documented use: 1530s.] "The Incredulity of Saint Thomas", 1601-1602 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/misdoubt_large.jpg Art: Caravaggio https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Der_ungl%C3%A4ubige_Thomas_-_Michelangelo_Merisi,_named_Caravaggio.jpg See also doubting Thomas https://wordsmith.org/words/doubting_thomas.html NOTES: Usually, the prefix mis- indicates that something is wrong: to misspell a word is to spell it incorrectly. In a few older formations, however, mis- could reinforce a verb that already expressed a negative feeling, as in today's word. Misdoubt means "to doubt" or "to suspect", not "to doubt incorrectly". If you expected the latter, you missed out. In Shakespeare's "All's Well That Ends Well", after the Countess's steward confirms that Helen, a gentlewoman in the Countess's household, loves her son, Bertram, the Countess says, "I could neither believe nor misdoubt." "'Listen to that, Mother Bullock. She's the same age as me.' 'I'd have guessed she was older,' Mother Bullock said, which I misdoubt was a compliment to me." Sandra Dallas; Alice's Tulips; St. Martin's Press; 2007. -------- Date: Wed Jul 29 12:01:01 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--withsay X-Bonus: No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a democratic country. -Alexis de Tocqueville, statesman and historian (29 Jul 1805-1859) This week's theme: Misleading words withsay (WITH-say) verb tr. To contradict, deny, oppose, or refuse. [From Old English wiðsæcga (to renounce, literally, to say against), corresponding to with- + say. Earliest documented use: before 1150.] NOTES: In Old English, the prefix with- didn't mean together or alongside; it meant against or opposite (a sense that still survives in withstand and withdraw). So to withsay someone isn't to be their hype man; it's to shut them down completely. "The Denial of Saint Peter", 1610 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/withsay_large.jpg Art: Caravaggio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Denial_of_Saint_Peter_(Caravaggio) "Sir, he said, I might not withsay mine uncle's will and commandment." Thomas Malory; Le Morte d'Arthur; P.F. Collier & Son; 1910. -------- Date: Thu Jul 30 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--depurate X-Bonus: If I could, I would always work in silence and obscurity, and let my efforts be known by their results. -Charlotte Bronte, novelist and poet (1816-1855) This week's theme: Misleading words depurate (DEP-yuh-rayt) verb tr. To cleanse or purify. [From Latin depurare (to purify thoroughly), from de- (completely or thoroughly) + purare (to purify), from purus (pure). Earliest documented use: 1620.] Depurating water https://wordsmith.org/words/images/depurate_large.jpg Engraving from "Bemerkungen über gemeines Wasser, und besonders über natürliche und künstliche Mineralwasser", 1799 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jakob_Ziegler_1799_Bemerkungen_%C3%BCber_gemeines_Wasser_detail.jpg NOTES: If deactivate means to make inactive and deregulate means to remove regulations, what should depurate mean? You might expect it to mean to remove purity, but no. What fun would there be if language behaved perfectly logically? Usually, de- reverses an action, but in depurate it has an older intensive sense, completely or thoroughly. The same intensive de- appears in declare, literally, to make completely clear. "Green and some other oyster traders already own purification tanks which they use to depurate oysters for domestic consumption." Adam Payne; Shellfish Businesses Say Government Plan To Build Purification Centres Won't Help Most Exports; PoliticsHome (London, UK); Mar 10, 2021. -------- Date: Fri Jul 31 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--disannul X-Bonus: Kind words, kind looks, kind acts, and warm hand-shakes, -- these are means of grace when men in trouble are fighting their unseen battles. -John Hall, pastor (31 Jul 1829-1898) This week's theme: Misleading words disannul (dis-uh-NUHL) verb tr. To annul completely; cancel or make void. [From dis- (completely) + annul, from Anglo-French annuller, from Latin annullare (to bring to nothing), from Latin ad nullum (to nothing). Earliest documented use: 1485.] NOTES: The prefix dis- often signals reversal, removal, or negation, as in disconnect, disarm, and disagree. Not here. In disannul, dis- is an intensifier meaning "completely". The word does not undo an annulment; it annuls something utterly. Annul already goes back to Latin ad nullum, "to nothing", so disannul takes something to nothing, and then makes sure it stays there. It doesn't press Undo; it presses Delete and then stamps VOID. "The Divorce of the Empress Josephine", 1846 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/disannul_large.jpg Art: Henri Frédéric Schopin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Divorce_of_the_Empress_Josephine "In what appears to be a letter sent with the boy back to Russia, she asked that the adoption be disannulled." US Mom Sends Adopted Son Back To Russia; All Things Considered; NPR (Washington, DC); Apr 9, 2010.