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Definition 1: That today's word means a "receding hairline" is pure balderdash! According to the Oxford English Dictionary, in the 16th century this word meant "froth," as in the barber's balderdash used for shaving. By the 17th century it referred to a kind of mixed drink, e.g. milk and beer, beer and wine, brandy and mineral waters. By the end of the 18th century the term picked up its current meaning, "a jumbled mix of meaningless words; malarkey; hog-wash; bunkum.&qu

Definition 1: To come together, to contact (as two osculating circles); to kiss. [@more@]Usage 1: Today's word is for those shy, affectionate people who are willing to talk about kissing in public but not so that other people understand. As you might expect, it comes from a large, happy family with several adjectives, such as osculable "kissable" (such osculable lips), osculant "kissing" (an osculant cousin?), and "osculatory" (an osculatory couple in the shadows).

Definition 1: A disorganized mixture, a hotchpotch (not PA Dutch for "hodge-podge" but the original pronunciation of that word, from the English pronunciation of the French word hochepot "stew"—literally "shake pot"—converted to a rhyme compound.)[@more@]Usage 1: The plural is "farragoes" with an [e]. The adjective is "farraginous" [fê-'ræ-ji-nês] as, "Each of us is a farraginous conglomeration of prejudices." Suggested usage:

Definition 1: (Erudite) A creative work, such as a novel, musical piece, or painting. [@more@]Usage 1: The plural of "opus" is "opera," so the question arises, how is it possible to pluralize "opera," too ("operas")? Italian took the final [a] of the unusual Latin plural as the feminine singular ending found in many Italian nouns, such as la casa "the house," mia mamma "my mother," and began using the plural form as a discrete (separate

Definition 1: Fortunate, presenting favorable conditions. Also, kindly or gracious.[@more@]Usage 1: Today's word is close in meaning and sound to "auspicious." However, "auspicious" refers to a beginning that signals a good result, while "propitious" describes continuing good conditions. "Propitiously" is the adverb form of today's word; "propitiousness" is the noun. There is also a seldom used verb, "propitiate," which means to make pr

Definition 1: (1) An income payment made once a year or over the course of a year; (2) a specified investment income, especially for retirement, payable at stated intervals for a fixed period, often for the recipient's life with any remainder distributed among his heirs or other participants in the plan.[@more@]Usage 1: The plural of today's word is "annuities." A person receiving an annuity is an annuitant. The verb, "annuitize," means simply to begin the payments from the a

Definition 1: To muddle or stupefy, as with liquor—or love; to infatuate, to make a sot of.[@more@]Usage 1: Today's word works as a verb, as "I'm besotted with you," but the form "besotted" is also an adjective. "Besottedly" is the adverb, and "besottedness" is the name for that particular stage of a relationship.Suggested usage: Is there anything more intoxicating than love? When one is besotted, one is likely to behave in a foolish way because one is dr

Definition 1: A strong creative impulse from a muse or higher power, divine or supernatural inspiration. [@more@]Usage 1: The adjective for today's word is "afflatitious" but it has also inspired a more regular family with essentially the same meaning: afflate "to blow upon or inspire" and its noun, afflation "inspiration from mysterious higher powers."Suggested usage: An afflatus is usually divine, "Collette played the Bach fugues under divine afflatus as we a

Definition 1: (1) The Roman god of war, of husbandry, shepherds and seers. (2) The "red" planet, the fourth from the sun, revolving around it every 687 days at a distance of 227.9 million kilometers (141.6 million miles) and with a diameter of 6,794 kilometers (4,222 miles).[@more@]Usage 1: August 27 Earth and Mars passed within 55,760,000 kilometers (34,649,264 miles) of each other—closer than at any time in the past 60,000 years. The adjective, "Martian," is also used as a

Definition 1: A formal title of courtesy for a woman without regard to the marital status reflected in "Mrs." and "Miss."[@more@]Usage 1: Today's abbreviation for "mistress" is followed by a period in the US. Outside the US, periods are often omitted after abbreviations that end on the same letter as the full form. Those who follow this (British) style write, "Mr" but "Rev.," "Ms" but "Prof." No one seems to place a period aft

Definition 1: A deep hole in the ground; a deep, usually round vessel for storage and cooking; the cranium, skull (archaic). [@more@]Usage 1: Pot-hole is pleonastic, to use a recent word of the day, since a pot is a hole. A bad road has pots in it. The "jack-pot" was originally the pot in a game of draw-poker, which accumulated until one player had a pair of jacks or better. "Pot luck" has always been your luck in being offered whatever is being cooked in the pot when you vis

Definition 1: Pleasant, agreeable. Beyond this, the meaning of the word is very vague; so vague, in fact, that the Oxford Dictionary offers 17 definitions trying to capture it. "Nice" can also serve as the default euphemism for "I don't want to talk about it" or "I don't know what to say." [@more@]Usage 1: The problem is that this word is woefully overused. It has gotten to the point that we use it whenever we want to say something positive but can't think of the ri

Definition 1: Sinful, capable of sin, wrong-doing, or error—imperfect.[@more@]Usage 1: Orphan negatives are the negatives of words fallen out of use, such as "hapless," "inane," "insipid," "immaculate," "impromptu," "nonchalant." An unlucky person is hapless but a lucky person is doesn't have much hap. You're very clean if you’re immaculate but not maculate if you’re very dirty and, if you don't care, you’re indifferent, but if you

Definition 1: Today’s word does not mean "to ify again," but rather to perceive or portray an abstract object as a real one.[@more@]Usage 1: E. H. Gombrich ('Sense of Order' 1979) suggests that to see a wavy line on a piece of paper as rippling water, mountains, or a fluttering ribbon is reification but to see it as a living serpent is anthropomorphism. Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse are personifications, the portrayal of animals as humans. The noun, as you see, is "reification.&qu

Definition 1: Disgrace or reproach brought on by extremely shameful conduct. The action causing such reproach. [@more@]Usage 1: Opprobrium is due Stalin and Hitler for their destruction of their societies; companies that pollute air and water deserve a certain amount. Suggested usage: The term is usually reserved for situations where words like "reproach", "censure", and "reprehension" are too mild. "Opprobrium" is reserved for murderers and serial killers

Definition 1: The gurgling sounds made by the stomach after eating.[@more@]Usage 1: The plural is "borborygmi" and the adjective "borborygmic." Borborygmi form the gastromantic data base (see WotD Archives for "gastromancy"). "Borborology" is a both rare and archaic alternate with an unexpected meaning: profanity. However, it is difficult not to believe that gastromantics are students of borborology, not of profanity but of borborygmi. Suggested usage: Tod

Definition 1: (1) A phrase that is ambiguous because of its syntactic structure; (2) any ambivalent or ambiguous phrase. [@more@]Usage 1: Today's word also appears in the guise of "amphibology." It is not to be confused with "amphibole" ['æm-fê-bol], the mineral hornblende. The plural of today's word is "amphibolies," and the adjective, "amphibolic" or "amphibolical." The adverb is "amphibolically." Suggested usage: We suggest yo

Definition 1: Breastplate or shield; protection or patronage.[@more@]Usage 1: Some dictionaries now allow the spelling "egis" but Dr. Language does not. Be careful to spell this word as it has traditionally been spelt: "aegis" or "ægis," now that we have the ligature "ae" (named "ash") on our word processors. "Under the auspices" and "under the aegis (of the parents' association)" are similar in meaning but remember, &qu

Definition 1: A speech error involving the transposition of the initial consonants of two neighboring or proximate words, especially if the result is a funny meaningful phrase, e.g. "Our Lord is a shoving leopard" for "Our Lord is a loving shepherd." [@more@]Usage 1: According to his facetious students, who wrote up Dr. Spooner's [see Etymology] verbal mishaps after his passing, he supposedly toasted Her Highness Queen Victoria with, "Three cheers for our queer old dean!

Definition 1: Of the worst or lowest kind, despicable. [@more@]Usage 1: The adjective is used far more frequently than the verb abject [æb-'jekt] "to cast down, degrade." When we think of the smallest linguistic element of meaning, a morpheme, we usually think of prefixes, suffixes, etc. However, morphemes can be odder as in this case, the mere shift of accent can trigger an additional meaning—verb ab'ject : adjective 'abject; verb sur'vey : noun 'survey, verb re'run. : noun 're