A.Word.A.Day --lodestar

A.Word.A.Day

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Mar 13, 2017

This week’s theme
Miscellaneous words

This week’s words
lodestar
uliginous
superbity
analphabetic
appetence

This week’s comments
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Next week’s theme
Words from chemistry

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

This week marks 23 years of our spreading the joy of words. On March 14 back in 1994 I started what became Wordsmith.org. Thank you for being with us -- you’re what makes Wordsmith.org.

There’s no word for a 23-year anniversary, but we can coin one: trivicennial, from tri- (three) + vicenary (relating to 20 years).

March 14 is also the birthday of Albert Einstein. That wild-haired man known for E = mc² also gave us another equation when he said:

If A is success in life, then A = x + y + z.
Work is x, play is y, and z is keeping your mouth shut.

To celebrate our trivicennial and Einstein’s birthday, we are holding an equation writing contest. Write an original equation and send it to contest@wordsmith.org by this Friday. Include your location.

Selected entries will win their choice of:

a signed copy of any of my books
a copy of the word game One Up!

To get you started, here’s an equation I came up with to describe a person’s renown:

R = deeds × (words÷10) × √looks

Meanwhile, enjoy this week’s miscellaneous words.

See contest results.

lodestar

PRONUNCIATION:

(LOAD-stahr)

MEANING:

noun: Someone or something that serves as a guiding principle, model, inspiration, ambition, etc.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Old English lad (way) + star. A lodestar is called so because it’s used in navigation, it shows the way. Earliest documented use: 1374.

USAGE:

“He was her rock, the lodestar on which she could focus.”
Laura Benedict; Bliss House; Pegasus Books; 2014.

See more usage examples of lodestar in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Don't ask me who's influenced me. A lion is made up of the lambs he's digested, and I've been reading all my life. -Giorgos Seferis, writer, diplomat, Nobel laureate (13 Mar 1900-1971)

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