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word | 1 Oct 2005 06:50

nemesis

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The Word of the Day for October 1 is:

nemesis   \NEM-uh-siss\   noun
     1 a : one that inflicts retribution or vengeance  *b : a formidable and usually victorious rival or opponent
     2 a : an act or effect of retribution  b : a source of harm or ruin : curse

Example sentence:
     The team will be facing their longtime nemesis in the very first round of the playoffs.

Did you know?
     Nemesis was the Greek goddess of vengeance, a deity who doled out rewards for noble acts and punishment for
evil ones. The Greeks believed that Nemesis didn't always punish an offender immediately but might wait
generations to avenge a crime. In English, "nemesis" originally referred to someone who brought a just
retribution, but nowadays people are more likely to see animosity than justice in the actions of a nemesis.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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word | 2 Oct 2005 06:50

tabula rasa

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The Word of the Day for October 2 is:

tabula rasa   \tab-yuh-luh-RAH-zuh\   noun
      1 : the mind in its hypothetical primary blank or empty state before receiving outside impressions
    *2 : something existing in its original pristine state

Example sentence:
      Our newly built house, with its unpainted walls, is a tabula rasa awaiting our decorative touches.

Did you know?
      Philosophers have been arguing that babies are born with minds that are essentially blank slates since the
days of Aristotle. (Later, some psychologists took up the case as well.) English speakers have called
that initial state of mental blankness "tabula rasa" (a term taken from a Latin phrase that translates as
"smooth or erased tablet") since the 16th century, but it wasn't until British philosopher John Locke
championed the concept in his "Essay Concerning Human Understanding" in 1690 that the term gained
widespread popularity in our language. In later years, a figurative sense of the term emerged, referring
to something that exists in its original state and that has yet to be altered by outside forces. 

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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word | 3 Oct 2005 06:50

zero-sum

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The Word of the Day for October 3 is:

zero-sum   \ZEER-oh-SUM\   adjective
     : of, relating to, or being a situation (as a game or relationship) in which a gain for one side entails a
corresponding loss for the other side

Example sentence:
     "Increasing spending for computer ed means cutting it somewhere else," explained the school
superintendent. "It's a zero-sum situation."

Did you know? 
     Does game theory sound like fun? It can be -- if you are a mathematician or economist who needs to analyze a
competitive situation in which the outcome is determined by the choices of the players and chance. Game
theory was introduced by mathematician John von Neumann and economist Oskar Morgenstern in their 1944
book _The Theory of Games and Economic Behavior_. In game theory, a zero-sum game is one, such as chess or
checkers, where each player has a clear purpose that is completely opposed to that of the opponent. In
economics, a situation is zero-sum if the gains of one party are exactly balanced by the losses of another
and no net gain or loss is created. (Such situations are rare.)
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word | 4 Oct 2005 06:50

caterwaul

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The Word of the Day for October 4 is: 

caterwaul   \KAT-er-wawl\   verb
    *1 : to make a harsh cry
     2 : to protest or complain noisily 

Example sentence:
     "Just before sunrise, barred owls hooted, screamed and caterwauled in the distance." (Chris Young, _The
State Journal-Register_ [Springfield, IL], April 9, 2005)

Did you know?
     An angry (or amorous) cat can make a lot of noise. As long ago as the mid-1300s, English speakers were using
"caterwaul" for the act of voicing feline passions. The "cater" part is, of course, connected to the cat,
but scholars disagree about whether it traces to the Middle Dutch "cater," meaning "tomcat," or if it is
really just "cat" with an "-er" added. The "waul" is probably imitative in origin; it represents the
feline howl itself. English's first "caterwaul" was a verb focused on feline vocalizations, but by the
1600s it was also being used for noisy people or things. By the 1700s it had become a noun naming any sound as
loud and grating as a tomcat's yowl.
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word | 5 Oct 2005 06:50

arboreal

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The Word of the Day for October 5 is:

arboreal   \ahr-BOR-ee-ul\   adjective 
    *1: of, relating to, or resembling a tree 
     2: inhabiting or frequenting trees

Example sentence:
     With some of the largest and oldest trees in the world, Sequoia National Park in California is an arboreal wonder.

Did you know? 
          "Arbor," the Latin word for "tree," has been a rich source of tree-related words in English, though some are
fairly rare. Some "arbor" descendants are synonyms of "arboreal" in the "relating to trees" sense:
"arboraceous," "arborary,"
"arborical," and "arborous." Some are synonyms meaning "inhabiting trees": "arboreous" and
"arboricole." Others mean "resembling a tree": "arborescent," "arboresque," and "arboriform." The
verb "arborize" means "to branch freely," and "arborvitae" is the name of a shrub that means literally
"tree of life." There's also "arboretum" and "arboriculture." And we can't forget "Arbor Day," which
since 1872 has named a day set aside by various states (and the national government) for planting trees.
But watch out -- the word "arbor," in the sense of a "bower," is from Anglo-French "herbe."
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word | 6 Oct 2005 06:50

styptic

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The Word of the Day for October 6 is: 

styptic   \STIP-tik\   adjective
     : tending to contract or bind : astringent; especially : tending to check bleeding

Example sentence:
     "Next time you need to treat a minor cut," the article advised, "try sprinkling it with a little powdered
cinnamon -- the spice is a superb styptic agent."

Did you know?
     People long ago recognized the power of certain substances to bind or contract organic tissue -- a quality
that has various uses and benefits. English speakers weren't original in this knowledge, and they copied
speakers of Greek, Latin, and Anglo-French when they designated this quality as "styptic" in the Middle
Ages. (The word in Greek, "styptikos," is from "styphein," which means "to contract.") One thing that a
styptic substance can do is stop bleeding, and almost from the start the word "styptic" has referred to
this quality especially. It has also been applied to things that make your mouth contract, or pucker, as
well as to substances that might affect your digestive organs with a "binding" effect.
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word | 7 Oct 2005 06:50

burke

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The Word of the Day for October 7 is: 

burke   \BERK\   verb
    *1 : to suppress quietly or indirectly 
     2 : bypass, avoid

Example sentence:
     The governor attempted to discreetly burke all inquiries into his alleged misuse of state funds.

Did you know?
     When an elderly pensioner died at the Edinburgh boarding house of William Hare in 1827, the proprietor and
his friend William Burke decided to sell the body to a local anatomy school. The sale was so lucrative that
they decided to make sure they could repeat it. They began luring nameless wanderers (who were not likely
to be missed) into the house, getting them drunk, then smothering or strangling them and selling the
bodies. The two disposed of at least 15 victims before murdering a local woman whose disappearance led to
their arrest. At Burke's execution (by hanging), irate crowds shouted "Burke him!" As a result of the
case, the word "burke" became a byword first for death by strangulation and eventually for any cover-up.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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word | 8 Oct 2005 06:50

refulgence

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The Word of the Day for October 8 is: 

refulgence   \rih-FULL-junss\   noun
     : a radiant or resplendent quality or state : brilliance 

Example sentence:
     Cervantes' Don Quixote compares his beloved's hair to "threads of the brightest gold of Araby, whose
refulgence dimmed the sun himself."

Did you know?
     "The full bow of the crescent moon peeps above the plain and shoots its gleaming arrows far and wide, filling
the earth with a faint refulgence, as the glow of a good man's deeds shines for a while upon his little world
after his sun has set, lighting the fainthearted travellers who follow on towards a fuller dawn." So
British author Sir Henry Rider Haggard described the light of the moon in _King Solomon's Mines_.
Haggard's example reflects both the modern meaning and the history of "refulgence." That word derives
from the Latin "refulgere," which means "to shine brightly" and which is itself a descendant of the verb
"fulgere," meaning "to shine." By the way, "fulgere" also underlies "effulgence," a shining synonym of "refulgence."
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word | 9 Oct 2005 06:50

piebald

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The Word of the Day for October 9 is:

piebald   \ PYE-bawld \   adjective
    *1 : composed of incongruous parts 
     2 : of different colors; especially : spotted or blotched with black and white

Example sentence:
     Lee's self-proclaimed "experimental novel" was a piebald accumulation of random stories woven together
with the thinnest of narrative threads.

Did you know?
     To many people, the species _Pica pica_ is nothing but a pest -- and a pest those noisy black-and-white
birds, better known as magpies, may be. But the Latin root "pica" that was adopted for their name isn't a
linguistic nuisance; it played an important role in the development of "piebald." The "pie" of "piebald"
("pie" is another name for a magpie) derives from "pica," Latin for "magpie," and "bald" has the meaning
"marked with white." Knowing those two facts surely makes the origin of "piebald" black-and-white (so to speak).

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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word | 10 Oct 2005 06:50

diatribe

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The Word of the Day for October 10 is:

diatribe   \DYE-uh-trybe\   noun
    *1 : a bitter and abusive speech or writing
     2 : ironical or satirical criticism 

Example sentence:
     The columnist wrote a ruthless diatribe condemning people who talk on cell phones while driving.

Did you know? 
     Ancient Greek philosophers liked to while away the hours in rational contemplation and intellectual
discussion. Their fondness for waxing philosophical is reflected in the Greek noun "diatribe," meaning
either "pastime" or "discourse." That noun passed into Latin as "diatriba," which was in turn adapted to
"diatribe" by 16th-century English speakers. In its earliest English use, "diatribe" meant simply "a
prolonged discourse," but that sense has become obsolete. "Diatribe" has also seen use as the name of a
specific type of philosophical discourse --satirical sermons directed against an object of
disapproval -- that was introduced in the 3rd century B.C. by Greek philosopher Bion of Borysthenes.
Today, however, the term is usually applied broadly to any biting or abusive denunciation.
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