Afleveringen
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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 5, 2025 is:
canard • \kuh-NARD\ • noun
Canard refers to a false report or story, or to a belief or rumor that isn't true. It can also refer to a kind of airplane as well as to a kind of small airfoil.
// The book unfortunately repeats some of history's oldest canards.
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Examples:
"It's such a canard to think young people don't care about great information. They do. ... [W]e have to start thinking, as media, of where theyâre getting it." â Kara Swisher, quoted at The Atlantic, 29 Feb. 2024
Did you know?
In 16th-century France, vendre des canards à moitié was a colorful way of saying "to fool" or "to cheat." The French phrase means, literally, "to half-sell ducks." No one now knows just what was meant by "to half-sell"; the saying was probably based on some story widely known at the time, but the details have not survived. Lost stories aside, the expression led to the use of canard, the French word for "duck," to refer to a hoax or fabrication. English speakers adopted this canard in the mid-1800s. The aeronautical sense of canard, used from the early days of flying, comes from the stubby duck-like appearance of the aircraft.
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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 4, 2025 is:
zaftig • \ZAHF-tig\ • adjective
Someone described as zaftig has a full, rounded figure, or in other words is pleasingly plump.
// Portraits of zaftig models are exhibited in the artist's collection.
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Examples:
"... Pablo Picasso produced an estimated 13,500 paintings, in addition to astounding quantities of drawings, prints, sculptures and ceramics. ... He veered between opposite poles of abstraction and realism, between the gaunt, poetic figures of his Blue Period and the zaftig matrons of his Rose Period, between the paper-lightness of his wildly inventive collages and the bulbous tonnage of his sculpted bronze heads." â Deborah Solomon, The New York Times, 9 Apr. 2023
Did you know?
Zaftig has been in use in Englishâmainly in the United Statesâsince the 1920s; a couple of the earliest known uses are found in Variety magazine, in reviews of burlesque dancers. The word comes from the Yiddish zaftik, meaning "juicy" or "succulent," which in turn comes from zaft, meaning "juice" or "sap." If this word is new to you and you would like to take it out for a spin, please be advised that even though most dictionaries define it as implying attractiveness, people to whom it might apply may not appreciate its use.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 3, 2025 is:
sarcophagus • \sahr-KAH-fuh-gus\ • noun
Sarcophagus refers to a coffin, and specifically a stone coffin.
// The crypt under the abbey church contains the sarcophagus of the monastery's founding abbot.
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Examples:
"Experts found as many as 1,035 artwork fragments, as well as one hundred graves increasing the cathedral's total record to more than five hundred burials. Many of the coffins, along with scattered bones, remain unidentified. A lead sarcophagus that may belong to the poet Joachim du Bellay is among one of the more notable burials." â Francesca Aton, ARTNews, 4 Dec. 2024
Did you know?
Body-eating coffins might sound like something out of a horror film, but flesh-eating stone? The latter plays a role in the etymology of sarcophagus; it is the literal translation of lĂthos sarkĂłphagos, the Greek phrase that underlies the English term. The phrase traveled through Latin between Greek and English, taking on the form lapis sarcophagus before being shortened to sarcophagus. It's not clear whether the ancient Romans believed that a certain type of limestone from the region around Troy would dissolve flesh (and thus was desirable for making coffins); that assertion came from Roman scholar Pliny the Elder, but he also reported such phenomena as dog-headed people and elephants who wrote Greek. Regardless, there is no doubt that the ancient Greek word for the limestone traces back to a combination of sĂĄrx, meaning "flesh," and a derivative of phagein, a verb meaning "to eat."
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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 2, 2025 is:
presage • \PRESS-ij\ • verb
To presage something is to give or be a sign that it will happen in the future. Presage is a formal synonym of foreshadow, foretell, and predict.
// The sudden gloom and ominous dark clouds clearly presaged a nasty storm.
See the entry >
Examples:
âWhat weâre really looking for are handsome, vigorous chickens who do well in cold climes. ⊠Adding birds of different breeds presaged an important change in our understanding: now that it was easier to tell birds apart, the distinct personalities of individuals began to reveal themselves more clearly.â â Sy Montgomery, What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the Worldâs Most Familiar Bird, 2024
Did you know?
Although sages, being known for their great wisdom, are sometimes believed to possess the ability to predict the future, there is no connection between the noun sage and the verb presage, which meansâas youâve likely foreseenââto foretell or predict.â While sage comes from the Latin verb sapere (âto be wiseâ), presage comes instead from a different Latin source: the adjective praesagus, a combination of the prefix prae and sagus, meaning âprophetic.â Presage entered English first as a noun referring to an omen, that is, something that foreshadows or portends a future event. A couple of centuries later it was joined by the verb, which is used for the action of foreshadowing, as in âthe current economic slowdown could presage another recession,â and may apply to suggesting a coming event or indicating its likelihood.
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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 1, 2025 is:
disputatious • \dis-pyuh-TAY-shus\ • adjective
Disputatious is a formal word used to describe someone who often disagrees and argues with other people (in other words, someone inclined to dispute). It can also describe something marked or characterized by arguments or controversies, or something that provokes debate or controversy.
// The podcast is hosted by a disputatious pair whose sparring has drawn legions of listeners.
See the entry >
Examples:
"The 1990s were especially disputatious; civil wars arose on multiple continents, as did major wars in Europe and Africa." â Paul Poast, The Atlantic, 17 Nov. 2023
Did you know?
Quarrelsome, contentious, polemicalâthe English language sure loves a multisyllabic word to describe your tetchier types, and who are we to argue? Disputatious is another lengthy adjective applied to people who like to start arguments or find something to disagree about, and it can be used to characterize situations and issues as well. For example, court trials are disputatious; that is, they are marked by the action of disputing. And an issue or matter is disputatious if it provokes controversy. However, if a matter, such as an assertion made by someone, is open to question rather than downright controversial, itâs merely disputable. In any case, thereâs no arguing that disputatious, dispute, and disputable have diverged somewhat in meaning from their Latin source: the verb dispurare means simply "to discuss."
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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 31, 2025 is:
encroach • \in-KROHCH\ • verb
To encroach is to gradually move or go into an area that is beyond the usual or desired limits, or to gradually take or begin to use or affect something that belongs to, or is being used by, someone else. Encroach is often followed by on or upon.
// Conflicts between people and bears increase as humans continue to encroach on bear territory.
// They argue that the law would encroach on states' authority.
See the entry >
Examples:
"In their young adult years, Mufasa and Taka find their courage and loyalty tested when a group of white lions encroach upon the pride." â Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Dec. 2024
Did you know?
The history behind encroach is likely to hook you in. The word comes from the Middle English verb encrochen, which means "to get or seize." The Anglo-French predecessor of encrochen is encrocher, which was formed by combining the prefix en- ("in") with the noun croche ("hook"). Croche is also an ancestor of our word crochet; that word first referred to a crochet hook or to the needlework done with it. Encroach carries the meaning of "intrude," both in terms of privilege and property. The word can also hop over legal barriers to describe a general advancement beyond desirable or normal limits (such as a hurricane that encroaches on the mainland).
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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 30, 2025 is:
audition • \aw-DISH-un\ • noun
An audition is a short performance to show the talents of someone (such as an actor or a musician) who is being considered for a role in a play, a position in an orchestra, etc.
// Auditions will be held next week for the spring musical.
// She had an audition for a small part but ended up landing a starring role.
See the entry >
Examples:
âWhen she was 18, Hannah DâAmato auditioned for a spot at the Berklee College of Music. Midway through her audition, one of the male judges walked up to her guitar amp and lowered the volume knob. Demoralized and insulted, DâAmato decided to bypass the prestigious institution and start a band on her own. Thus the origin story of Fake Fruit, the Bay Area punk trio sheâs been fronting over several incarnations since 2016.â â Zach Schonfeld, Pitchfork, 23 Aug. 2024
Did you know?
Today, audition most often refers to an artistic performance, but that wasnât always the case. Audition has roots in the Latin verb audÄ«re meaning âto hear,â and was first used in the late 16th century to refer to the power or sense of hearing. AudÄ«re is also the root of such hearing-related words in English as audible (âcapable of being heardâ), audience (which first meant âthe act or state of hearingâ), and the combining form audio-, which appears in various words relating to sound. It wasnât until the late 19th century that the noun audition began being used for an entertainerâs trial performance. And the verb audition, meaning âto test or try out in an audition,â didnât appear on the English language stage until the mid-20th century.
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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 29, 2025 is:
facetious • \fuh-SEE-shuss\ • adjective
Facetious is used to describe something, such as a remark or behavior, that is meant to be humorous or funny but is sometimes instead annoying, silly, or improper. It can also be used to describe someone who is joking, often implying that they are doing so inappropriately.
// The emcee delivered several facetious quips throughout the night that the audience found in poor taste.
// I was just being facetiousâI didn't mean it seriously.
See the entry >
Examples:
"In September, 1818, Byron told Moore of a new undertaking: 'It is called "Don Juan," and is meant to be a little quietly facetious upon every thing. ... I shall try the experiment, anonymously, and if it don't take it will be discontinued.' Safe to say that he continued, taking advantage of that freedom to cram into the poem pretty much anything that came to mind: shipwreck, cannibalism, lobster, cross-dressing, violent slurs upon the Duke of Wellington." â Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024
Did you know?
As many puzzle fans know, facetious is one of a small group of English words that not only use all five vowels once, but use them in alphabetical order. Other members of this exclusive club include abstemious (and abstemiously), and arsenious. (There is also an odd class of words which contain each vowel, used once, in reverse order: Pulmonifera, Muscoidea, and subcontinental.) Facetious comes from the Middle French adjective facetieux, which traces to the Latin word facÄtia, meaning "cleverness or wit." In English, it is used to describe speech or behavior that is intended to be playfully cheeky.
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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 28, 2025 is:
sward • \SWORD\ • noun
Sward is a literary word that refers to an area of land covered with grass.
// The hikers emerged from the forest to find a green sward dotted with yellow and purple flowers stretching out before them.
See the entry >
Examples:
âA century or so ago, if you lived in the Boston area and were obsessed with trees, you were in good company. The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, which had united enthusiasts of rare apples and ornamental maples since 1832, had helped found Mount Auburn Cemetery and endowed it with an immense, exotic plant collection. ... Tree mania seems to have come late to Greenlawn, however. Photographs taken sometime before 1914 show a bleak, bare sward.â â Veronique Greenwood, The Boston Globe, 18 Dec. 2023
Did you know?
Sward sprouted from the Old English sweard or swearth, meaning âskinâ or ârind.â It was originally used as a term for the skin of the body before being extended to another surfaceâthat of the Earth. The wordâs specific grassy sense dates to the 16th century, and lives on today mostly in novels from centuries past, such as Thomas Hardyâs Tess of the dâUrbervilles: âThe sun was so near the ground, and the sward so flat, that the shadows of Clare and Tess would stretch a quarter of a mile ahead of them, like two long fingers pointing afar to where the green alluvial reaches abutted against the sloping sides of the vale.â
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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 27, 2025 is:
edify • \ED-uh-fye\ • verb
To edify someone is to teach them in a way that improves their mind or character.
// The commencement speaker hoped that her words would edify the graduates, and give them hope and encouragement.
See the entry >
Examples:
"You might be tempted to think that Emerson advocates abandoning all admiration of others. He does not; he simply argues for hardheaded discrimination between what is good and true, and everything else. 'If you are noble, I will love you,' he writes, but 'if you are not, I will not hurt you and myself by hypocritical attentions.' In other words, admire noble, good people, and give your attention only to what edifies and uplifts you." â Arthur C. Brooks, The Atlantic, 20 June 2024
Did you know?
When you edify someone, youâre helping them build character. This figurative "building" is key to understanding the history of edify. This word is an evolution of the Latin verb aedificare, originally meaning "to erect a house" and later (in Late Latin) "to instruct or improve spiritually." (The word edifice, which usually refers to a building and especially to a large or massive structure, comes from the same root.) Aedificare, in turn, is based on aedes, the Latin word for "temple." Edify shares the spiritual meaning of its Late Latin root, but it is also used in general contexts to refer to the act of instructing in a way that improves the mind or character overall.
