September 18, 2009 by Grant Barrett

Wordnik word of the day: cashew

Today’s word of the day is cashew, the kidney-shaped seed of a tropical American evergreen tree, Anacardium occidentale.

cashews-bg
This is the fruit that contains the nut. Photo by Joao Vicente, used under a Creative Commons license.

September 17, 2009 by Grant Barrett

Wordnik word of the day: mell

Today’s word of the day is mell, meaning “to mix or to meddle,” of which it is a contracted form, and through which it is historically related to French, Spanish, and Italian words for “mix.” It is, of course, related to pell-mell.

September 14, 2009 by Grant Barrett

Wordnik word of the day: bevue

Today’s word of the day is bevue, an inadvertent error or a small omission. It’s pronounced “beh-VIEW.” It’s from the French bévue, meaning “a blunder.”

September 11, 2009 by Grant Barrett - 1 Comment

Wordnik word of the day: falx

Today’s word of the day is falx, something that is sickle-shaped, such as the poison fangs of a serpent, a metal implement (similar to a pruning hook), or, in anatomy, something which is falcate or falciform, both which mean “sickle-shaped” or “hooked.” Because of the bird’s sharp, hooked talons, falcon probably comes from the same root as falx.

Gerfalcon

September 9, 2009 by Grant Barrett

Wordnik word of the day: cacoethes

Today’s word of the day is cacoethes, an irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action. It is also spelled cacoëthes and it is pronounced /kahk-uh-EE-theez/. Cacoëthes loquendi is a mania for talking or a morbid desire for gossip or speechmaking. Cacoëthes scribendi is a morbid propensity for writing or an itch for authorship.

September 8, 2009 by Grant Barrett

Wordnik word of the day: bosky

Today’s word of the day is bosky, meaning “having an abundance of bushes, shrubs, or trees” or “relating to woods.” It shares a common ancestor with bush, a shrub with branches; bosk, a small wooded area or thicket; and boscage, a mass of trees or shrubs or a thicket.

September 4, 2009 by Grant Barrett

Wordnik word of the day: ultroneous

Today’s word of the day is ultroneous, meaning “spontaneous” or “voluntary,” and described by William Ballantyne Hodgson as “not recognised by Johnson, and little needed by the English tongue.” It’s from the same Latin root ultro- as ultromotivity, capability of spontaneous movement. Eleanor Agnes Moore has a deliciously dreadful poem titled “Ultroneus” in her Poems of Endowment on The Realities of Life:

          While the influence is morally, physically and refining,
          Yet by softening and cheering expressions made,
          Intellect may be developed and the power of thought strengthened.
          When the part of ultroneous is retained to be used at times.

Eleanor Agnes Moore