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June 1, 2008

Hogmanay (noun)

Pronunciation: [hag-mê-'ney]

Definition: (Scottish) The last day of the year, when children traditionally went from house to house asking for presents. It also refers a small cake given to children on New Year's day. More recently it has become a raucous New Year's Eve party in many Scottish cities.

Usage: The traditional Hogmanay includes "first footing," welcoming a tall, dark stranger at the stroke of midnight. First-footers should bring a gift such as uisge beatha "water of life" (Scotch), a lump of coal, or a bannock, a simple oat cake. This tradition reaches back to the Viking era, when the blond, blue-eyed Vikings brought only bad luck to whomever they visited. Today groups of friends gather and visit other friends. Whichever party you join this year, look out for the accent on the final syllable of today's word.

Suggested Usage: If you would like to add a bit of innovation in your end-of-the-year greetings, try "Merry Christmas and a Happy Hogmanay!" for a change. If you go to the Hogmanay street party in Edinburgh or Glasgow, though, it is unlikely that anyone will be able to hear you.

Etymology: The sense of "Hogmanay" corresponds to that of Old French aguillanneuf "the last day of the year, new year's gift." In modern French dialects it survives as "aiguilan," "guilané," and "guilanneau" but in Normandy it is "hoguignettes" or "hoguinané," whence it probably invaded Scottish English. The French term survives today in the phrase au gui l'an neuf! "(kiss) under the New Year's mistletoe.” Others speculated that "hogmanay" itself comes either from the Anglo-Saxon haleg monath "holy month" or Gaelic oge maidne "new morning."

June 2, 2008

Interpellate  (verb)

Pronunciation: [in-têr-'pêl-eyt or in-têr-pêl-'eyt]

Definition: To question formally concerning an official action or personal conduct, generally done on the part of a legislative body. Also, to question about policy or government business.

Usage: The noun form of today's word is interpellation. One who does the questioning is an interpellator, the agent noun.

Suggested Usage: "TV subjected all of us to it, so why didn't the FCC interpellate the hairdresser who sold Traficant that wig?"

Etymology: "Interpellate" is similar in appearance to the words appellate "having the power to hear appeals and review court decisions" and interpolate "to make additions." The three words all come from Latin, with the ultimate root *pel- "to thrust, strike, drive." Today's word comes from Latin interpellare "to interrupt," from inter- + pellere "to drive, beat." Besides the aforementioned trio, the root *pel- gives us words like "compel," "dispel," "expel," "impel"—and even pushier words.

June 3, 2008

Levirate  (verb)

Pronunciation: ['le-vê-reyt, -rêt, le-'vi-rêt]

Definition: The practice of marrying the widow of one's brother, as required by ancient Hebrew law or followed by some native North American nations.

Usage: Not very common any more in the English-speaking world, which explains the uncertainty about the pronunciation.

Suggested Usage: Best used when you want to talk about marrying your brother's wife and only want subscribers to YourDictionary.com's Word of the Day to understand what you are talking about. See also sororate (sê-'ro-rêt) "to marry your wife's sister or sisters, usually after the wife has died or proven barren." Terms like these should allay any concerns that women are making no headway in their struggle for equal rights.

Etymology: Latin lêvir "husband's brother, brother-in-law", oddly developed from dêvir, and hence related to Sanskrit devaraH "husband's younger brother". Older Indo-European languages made much finer distinctions among relatives.

June 4, 2008

Plenipotentiary  (adjective)

Pronunciation: [ple-ni-pê-'ten-chi-e-ri or -'ten-chê-ri]

Definition: Invested with full power to reach decisions.

Usage: This adjective may also be used as a noun: "Ask Frederico; he is our plenipotentiary in Zimbabwe." As an adjective, it is often placed after the noun it modifies: "ambassador plenipotentiary."

Suggested Usage: This term is usually associated with diplomacy: "The U. S. sent an ambassador plenipotentiary to settle the dispute in Rongo-Rongo." It is ripe for extension, however: "Reynaldo zips through decisions as though he were the royal plenipotentiary of the universe." (Ouch! That sounds a bit snippy, doesn't it?)

Etymology: Medieval Latin plenipotentiarius "invested with full power" from Latin plenus "full" + potens "powerful." "Plenus" derives from *pel- which also gave English "full" and, via Latin, "plenty," not to mention Russian "polnyi." "Potens" is related to "possible" from Latin posse "to be able" and Persian pasha "master, lord.

June 5, 2008

Recreant  (adjective)

Pronunciation: ['re-kri-yênt]

Definition: (1) Disloyal, unfaithful, apostate; (2) cowardly, faint-hearted, craven.

Usage: Two acceptable nouns are derived from today's word: "recreancy" and "recreance"—take your pick. The adjective may also be used as a noun: "She is an absolute recreant!" The adverb is "recreantly." Keep in mind that a miscreant is either a non-believer or a depraved scoundrel while a recreant is someone who is unfaithful to a belief or a coward.

Suggested Usage: If you are ever betrayed by a friend, this is the word you want to use: "Buffy, you knew I was going to buy that dress tomorrow; how could you be so recreant as to buy it today?" But be careful for it also fits someone who is fearful or faint-hearted, "Me recreant? If you weren't so recreant in the face of downtown traffic, you would have the dress right now instead of me."

Etymology: From Old French "recreant," present participle of recroire "to give up in battle or go over to the enemy" from Medieval Latin recreere "to yield, pledge" based on Latin re- "re-, again" + credere "to believe." "Miscreant" comes from French mescroire "disbelieve," based on the same Latin root. This root comes from Proto-Indo-European *k'erd- "heart," found today in English "heart," German "Herz," Greek "kardia," and French "cœur" from Latin cor, cordis "heart." The special fronted [k'] in this root became an [s] in the Eastern PIE languages, so the same stem turns up in Armenian "sirt" and Russian serdce "heart." The root "cred-ere" ostensibly underwent metathesis, the switching of places by two letters, so that original cerd- > cred-.

June 6, 2008

Tintinnabulation  (noun)

Pronunciation: [tin-tên-ab-yu-'ley-shên]

Definition: The ringing or jingling sound of bells.

Usage: The noun tintinnabulist is a more felicitous alternate for "bell-ringer." Both these words refer to someone who "tintinnabulates." A small bell may be called a "tintinnabule" since it makes a "tintinnabulous" sound.

Suggested Usage: The more tintinnabulation around the holidays, the merrier: the tintinnabulous collectors for the Salvation Army have replaced tintinnabulating sleigh harness and the growing popularity of tintinnabulist concerts produces even more of this heart-lifting sound.

Etymology: Latin tintinnabulum "bell," from tintinnare "to ring, jingle" a reduplication of tinnire "ring, jingle." This remarkable word is both onomatopoetic (resembling the sound it refers to) and reduplicative (the syllable "tin-" is repeated).

June 7, 2008

Zaftig  (adjective)

Pronunciation: ['zæf-tig]

Definition: Having a full, rounded figure (usually of a woman).

Usage: Marilyn Monroe had a zaftig figure, as did the pin-ups of another generation. This word must be used sensitively but it is an impressive alternative to its synonym "Rubenesque."

Suggested Usage: Using this word you have to be careful that it is set in a positive context: "Ms Jones has a razor-sharp wit and a zaftig figure, a combination that some men find attractive."

Etymology: From the Yiddish zaftik "juicy," from Middle High German saft "juice", akin to the English the word "sap." No explanation as to why the English word bears none of the connotations of the original German word.