Date: Mon Oct 14 00:01:06 EDT 2002
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hapax legomenon
X-Bonus: There are two kinds of fools: One says, "This is old, therefore it is good"; the other says, "This is new, therefore it is better." -William R. Inge, clergyman, scholar, and author (1860-1954)

hapax legomenon (HAY-paks li-GOM-uh-non) noun, plural hapax legomena

A word or form that has only one recorded use.

[From Greek hapax (once) + legomenon, from legein (to say).]

"Linda Tripp, the faithless friend, says to Monica Lewinsky about the President, `Right now I think he's a schwonk.' This qualifies as what biblical exegetes call a hapax legomenon, the only known use in print, which makes it difficult to define."
William Safire, Where's the Poetry?, The New York Times, Nov 1, 1998.

"The entire Song of Songs is a hapax legomenon of its own, the Blochs say. It is unique in both the Old and New Testaments because it leaves out God entirely. It never mentions Israel as a people or a nation. It is free of any talk of sin. And it is the only surviving example of secular love poetry from ancient Israel. Why such a romantic poem found its way into the biblical canon is something of a mystery."
Laurie Goodstein, Translators Find Sensuality in Bible's `Song of Songs',
The Minneapolis Star Tribune, Feb 21, 1998.