Word - 64

APPELLATION \ap-uh-LAY-shun\ noun

*1 : an identifying name or title : designation

2 : archaic : the act of calling by a name

3 : a geographical name used to identify wine

Example sentence:

We used to call him "Danny," but he recently let us know that he prefers the appellation "Daniel."

Did you know?

Ask a Frenchman named "Jacques" his name, and you may very well get the reply, "Je m'appelle Jacques." The French verb "appeller" means "to call (by a name)," so Jacques' answer literally translates to "I call myself Jacques." Knowing the function of "appeller" makes it easy to remember that "appellation" refers to the name or title by which something is called or known. "Appeller" and "appellation" also share a common ancestor -- the Latin "appellare," meaning "to call or summon," formed by combining the prefix "ad-" ("to") with another verb, "pellere" ("to drive"). "Appellare" is also the root of our word "appeal" (by way of Anglo-French and Middle English), as well as "appellate," referring to a kind of court where appeals are heard.

Word - 63

PRECOCIOUS \prih-KOH-shus\ adjective

1 : exceptionally early in development or occurrence

*2 : exhibiting mature qualities at an unusually early age

Example sentence:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a precocious child who, by the age of five, was already composing his first musical pieces.

Did you know?

"Precocious" got started in Latin when the prefix "prae-," meaning "ahead of," was combined with the verb "coquere," meaning "to cook" or "to ripen," to form the adjective "praecox," which means "early ripening" or "premature." By 1650, English speakers had turned "praecox" into "precocious" and were using it especially of plants that produced blossoms before their leaves came out. By the 1670s, "precocious" was also being used to describe humans who developed skills or talents before others typically did.