Home »

• Word of the Day Index

April 27, 2008

Capital (adjective, noun)

Pronunciation: ['kæ-pi-têl]

Definition: Major, large, critical, most important; punishable by death (capital crime); pertaining to investment wealth.

Usage: No Word-of-the-Day series would be complete without an explanation of the differences between "capital" and "capitol." We have chosen "capital" as our word for it has the richer set of meanings. Most of the nominal meanings of this word have evolved from phrases with the adjective in it, though, e.g. capital (wealth), capital (city), capital (letter). But the capitol is the building in which a legislature meets. In all its other meanings, adjective or noun, the word is spelled "capital."

Suggested Usage: To keep the two spellings straight, remember that the capitol (building) is in the capital (city). Also keep in mind that today's word is at heart an adjective, widely used in Britain and elsewhere to indicate excellence: "Go out dancing in the rain? What a capital idea!" By itself, it belongs to the family of exclamations expressing greatest pleasure: "Great!" "Awesome!" "Far out!" "Capital!" It is always a capital idea to deploy a rich mix of such hyperbolic interjections in your conversations.

Etymology: Old French, from Latin “capitalis,” the adjective for caput "head" akin to Old English heafod “head" and German Haupt "head," found in Hauptmann "captain." The last entered Ukrainian via Polish as "hetman" in reference to the leader of the Cossacks. By the way, "captain" itself goes back to the same "caput."

April 28, 2008

Empathy (noun)

Pronunciation: ['emp-ê-thi]

Definition: Understanding another by entering and sharing their emotions.

Usage: "Sympathy" is derived from Greek syn "together, with" + pathos "experience, emotion" and indicates an emotional response paralleling the emotions of someone else. "Empathy" reflects actual sharing someone else's feelings. The meanings of these two words have not strayed far from their original senses.

Suggested Usage: Empathy is a stronger term than sympathy: "Christine is very sympathetic to my situation but I don't feel that she really empathizes with what I am going through." "Her empathy for others often leads her to become too involved with other people." It must imply an actual sharing of emotions.

Etymology: Greek empatheia "passion" from en- "in" + pathos "experience, emotion."

April 29, 2008

Funky (adjective)

Pronunciation: ['fung-kee]

Definition: (1) Cowardly (1837 Dickens), (2) depressed, or (3) smelling of old and moldy cheese. The November 1954 issue of Time Magazine referred to "Funky, authentic, swinging blues, down to earth, smelling of earth." Today its meaning is very diffuse but is, roughly: authentic, less than fresh, earthy, in the broadest senses of these terms.

Usage: Today's word is used frequently but the meaning is difficult to pin down; we have attempted a brief survey of the possibilities above. The adjective may be compared (funkier, funkiest) and the adverb is "funkily." The noun may be "funk" or "funkiness."

Suggested Usage: Today's word began as a description of a smell and was extended to virtually anything too old, cheesy, or outdated, "After lifting weights for an hour at the gym Brett came home smelling a bit funky with clothes to match." Today the word can as easily refer to style and fashion as cuisine: "Edna arrived in a hair-do with a funky bouffant straight out of the 50s."

Etymology: "Funky" has been around in various forms since at least 1623. It probably originated in a dialectal French word, "funkier" from Latin fumigare "to smoke," a verb based on fumus "smoke" (also the origin of our word "fumes"). This is suggested by the fact that it originally referred to the smell of musty tobacco smoke. Later it became associated with the smell of moldy cheese and then with anything smelling less than fresh. The use of the term "funky jazz" in the 1950s by African Americans to refer to the old, authentic jazz was an attempt to distinguish it from the newer more sophisticated forms being developed by white band leaders.

April 30, 2008

Bon Mot (noun)

Pronunciation: [bõ(n)-'mo]

Definition: A witticism, a clever or witty turn of phrase.

Usage: The plural of today's word is "bon mots," pronounced the same as the singular. A bon mot is a particularly well-turned phrase, distinguished more by wittiness than by profundity, such as Adlai Stevenson's famous line, "A politician is a man who approaches every question with an open mouth." An epithet is an adjectival characterization of someone, as Lyndon Johnson's characterization of a senatorial colleague as someone who could not chew gum and walk at the same time. Apothegms and maxims are more purposeful philosophical opinions, e.g. Lord Acton's famous apothegm, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely" or Charlemagne's profound maxim, "To know another language is to have a second soul."

Suggested Usage: People who craft bon mots are always a pleasure: "Sam Westgate fights the anfractuosities of the federal bureaucracy with a quiver of finely crafted bon mots," implies that Dr. Westgate loves the cleverly turned phrase. He might even use this one, again by the past master, Adlai Stevenson: "In America any boy may become president; I suppose that's the risk he takes."

Etymology: Today's word is a French expression meaning "good word" or "good saying," based on "bon" from Latin bonus—even in English something quite "good," plus mot "word, saying, motto" (or, as the Italians say, "motto"), from late Latin *mottum from muttire "to murmur, utter." Latin bonus "good" derives from an original root *d[e]w- with a variable [e] plus the suffix -en, also the source of bene "well," found in "benefit," "benediction," and "benign." Initial *dw did not convert to [b] in Greek and so appears with the same -en suffix in Greek dynasthai "to be able" found in English "dynamic," "dynasty," and "dynamite." This brings us to Dr. Sam Westgate, the dynamite guy who has been a real bonus to his colleagues in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for almost five years. Dr. Westgate's coworkers want him to know that he and his bon mots will be sorely missed when he moves over to the Bureau of European Affairs next week."

May 1, 2008

Epitome (noun)

Pronunciation: [ê-'pi-tê-mee]

Definition: An abstract, outline, or abbreviated version of a larger work; hence, a. representative in condensed or concentrated form.

Usage: The verb, "epitomize" (British-Australian "epitomise"), means to shorten or diminish. It has begun to be used recently in the US in the sense of representing or exemplifying perfectly. "Percival epitomizes the modern shylock," should mean only that he possesses all the principal points though not necessarily the details of a modern shylock. An epitomizer (epitomiser) is someone who abridges or summarizes books, articles, and the like.

Suggested Usage: Despite its usage in the US, the basic sense of today's word remains that of a brief summary or outline, "Could we get just an epitome of your solution to the Middle East conflict, Mortimer; I must get back to the crypt before sunrise." Here is how to use the word around the house: "Dad, since I know driving the car through the back wall of the garage was a stupid thing to do, could you epitomize your sermon so I can get to bed?" Otherwise, it refers to a condensed or summary version. As President Ford so aptly put it, "The three-martini lunch is the epitome of American efficiency. Where else can you get an earful, a bellyful and a snootful at the same time?"

Etymology: Greek epitome "summary" from epitemnein "cut down, abridge" based on epi "on" + temnein "cut." The original root *tem-/tom- "cut" also turns up in "anatomy" from Greek anatome "dissection" and all surgical terms on -tomy "cutting" and -ectomy "excision, cutting out", e.g. lobotomy "severing of nerve cells to the frontal lobes" and appendectomy "removal of the appendix." A bit more surprising is Latin templum "temple," apparently originally referring to an opening cut out of the forest, and tondere "shear" from which English derives tonsorial "pertaining to a barber" (Latin "tonsor") and tonsure, the ritual shaving of a monk's head as a part of his induction into a brotherhood.

May 3, 2008

Obscurant (adjective)

Pronunciation: [êb-'skyu-rênt]

Definition: That which obscures (adjective); one who obscures, prevents inquiry or enlightenment (noun).

Usage: Today's word may be an adjective or a noun. As an adjective its meaning is rather plain: "obscuring." However, as a noun it may refer to someone who impedes scientific inquiry or enlightenment. The activity of such a person is "obscurantism" and his or her behavior is "obscurantist."

Suggested Usage: Applied to nature, the adjective bears no negative connotation, "Obscurant clouds impeded our view of the mountains." The noun, however, is decidedly pejorative: "Our cardinal problem is that the halls of government are inhabited by too many obscurants threatened by the free flow of information." The adjective may be, too, "Mandy's obscurant replies to our questions left us completely mystified as to what was happening."

Etymology: From "obscure," borrowed from Latin obscurus "dark, shady," comprising ob- "toward" + sku-r from PIE *(s)keu- "cover, conceal." With the [s], which comes and goes among Indo-European languages, this root turns up in English "skin," "skim," "scum," and Old Norse sky "cloud", borrowed to distinguish the sky from heaven (Old English heofan "sky, heaven"). The root turns up in Greek skutos "hide" and Sanskrit sku "hide, conceal." Without the initial [s], it became "hide" and "hose" in English. For another serving of PIE, read "How is a Hippo like a Feather?" in yourDictionary's library.