Word - 185

ELYSIAN \ih-LIZH-un\ adjective, often capitalized

1 : of or relating to Elysium

*2 : blissful, delightful

Example sentence:

"The summer, in some climates, makes possible to man a sort of Elysian life." (Henry David Thoreau, Walden)

Did you know?

In classical mythology Elysium, also known as the Elysian Fields, was the paradise reserved for the heroes immortalized by the gods. Ancient Greek poets imagined it as the abode of the blessed after death. The first known use of the place-name as a word for a blissful state enjoyed by mere mortals is found in Shakespeare's Henry V. Following the Bard, many other writers over the centuries have used "Elysium," as well as "Elysian Fields," to refer to paradisiacal places or states. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was the first to summon "Elysian" as an adjective for the blissful quality emanating from such places.

Word - 184

LOOLYGAG \LAH-lee-gag\ verb

: to spend time idly, aimlessly, or foolishly

: dawdle

Example sentence:

"Please stop lollygagging around and get ready for school," pleaded Mom.

Did you know?

You certainly didn't want to be known as a "lollygagger" at the beginning of the 20th century. Back then, "lollygag" was slang for "fooling around" (sexually, that is). That sense of "lollygag" was in use as long ago as 1868, and it probably originated as an alteration of the older (and more dawdlingly innocent) "lallygag." Nowadays, "lollygag" doesn't usually carry such naughty connotations, but back in 1946, one Navy captain considered lollygagging enough of a problem to issue this stern warning: "Lovemaking and lollygagging are hereby strictly forbidden.... The holding of hands, osculation and constant embracing of WAVES [Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service], corpsmen or civilians and sailors or any combination of male and female personnel is a violation of naval discipline...."

Word - 183

TOCSIN \TOCK-sin\ noun

1 : an alarm bell or the ringing of it

*2 : a warning signal

Example sentence:
A coalition of parents was sounding the tocsin for the school music program -- if voters didn't approve a tax increase, the program was sure to be axed.

Did you know?

Although it has occasionally been spelled like its homonym "toxin," "tocsin" has nothing to do with poison. Rather, it is related through French, and ultimately Latin, to the English words "touch" and "signal." "Tocsin" long referred to the ringing of church bells to signal events of importance to local villagers, including dangerous events such as attacks. Its use was eventually broadened to cover anything that signals danger or trouble.

Word - 182

APHORISM \AF-uh-riz-um\ noun

1 : a concise statement of a principle

*2 : a terse formulation of a truth or sentiment

: adage

Example sentence:

Through his work as a radio broadcaster, Ted has entertained countless listeners with his feel-good stories and his pithy, down-home aphorisms.

Did you know?

"Aphorism" was originally used in the world of medicine. Credit Hippocrates, the Greek physician regarded as the father of modern medicine, with influencing our use of the word. He used "aphorismos" (a Greek ancestor of "aphorism" meaning "definition" or "aphorism") in titling a book outlining his principles on the diagnosis and treatment of disease. That volume offered many examples that helped to define aphorism, beginning with the statement that starts the book's introduction: "Life is short, Art long, Occasion sudden and dangerous, Experience deceitful, and Judgment difficult." English speakers originally used the term mainly in the realm of the physical sciences, but eventually broadened its use to cover principles in other fields.

Word - 181

FRIGORIFIC \frig-uh-RIFF-ik\ adjective

: causing cold

: chilling

Example sentence:

Jamie shivered as she faced the frigorific blast of wind blowing off the lake.

Did you know?

The chill in "frigorific" comes from "frigus," the Latin word for "frost" or "cold." ("Frigorific" is derived from Latin "frigorificus," the adjective form of "frigus.") "Frigus" has provided us with other icy words as well. It is the source of "refrigerate" ("to keep cold"), and also of the combining form "frigo-" ("cold") and the noun "frigorimeter" ("a thermometer designed for low temperatures"), both of which are primarily scientific and somewhat rare. "Frigus" is also related to the ancestors of "frigid" ("intensely cold"). "Frigorific" is a relatively unusual word and is used considerably less often than its relatives "refrigerate" and "frigid."

Word - 180

ZANY \ZAY-nee\ noun

1 : a subordinate clown or acrobat in old comedies who mimics ludicrously the tricks of the principal

2 : one who acts the buffoon to amuse others

*3 : a foolish, eccentric, or crazy person

Example sentence:

My brother's friends are an unpredictable bunch of zanies.

Did you know?

Zanies have been theatrical buffoons since the heyday of the Italian commedia dell'arte, which introduced those knavish clowns. The Italian "zanni" was a stock servant character, often an intelligent and proud valet with abundant common sense, a love of practical jokes, and a tendency to be quarrelsome, cowardly, envious, vindictive, and treacherous. Zanni, the Italian name for the character, comes from a dialect nickname for Giovanni, the Italian form of John. The character quickly spread throughout European theater circles, inspiring such familiar characters as Pierrot and Harlequin, and by the late 1500s an anglicized version of the noun "zany" was introduced to English-speaking audiences by no less a playwright than William Shakespeare (in Love's Labour's Lost).

Word - 179

FRIEZE \FREEZ\ noun

1 : the part of an entablature between the architrave and the cornice

2 : a sculptured or richly ornamented band (as on a building or piece of furniture)

*3 : a band, line, or series suggesting a frieze

Example sentence:
"The house commands a hilltop and is forbidding, imposing, but softened with a frieze of beautiful American elms." (Lady Bird Johnson, A White House Diary)

Did you know?

Today's word is not the only "frieze" in English. The other "frieze" refers to a kind of heavy wool fabric. Both of the "frieze" homographs derive from French, but each entered that language through a different channel. The woolen homograph is from the Middle Dutch word "vriese," which also refers to coarse wool. The "frieze" that we are featuring as our word today is from the Latin word "frisium," meaning "embroidered cloth." That word evolved from "phrygium" and "Phrygia," the name of an ancient country of Asia Minor whose people excelled in metalwork, wood carving, and (unsurprisingly) embroidery. That embroidery lineage influenced the use of "frieze" for the middle division of an entablature, which commonly has a decorated surface resembling embroidered cloth.

Word - 178

TREPID \TREP-id\ adjective

: timorous, fearful

Example sentence:
After dark, the less trepid among us would venture as far as the front porch of the empty house, where the smallest creak would send us screaming.

Did you know?

Don't be afraid to use "trepid." After all, it has been in the English language for more than 350 years -- longer, by 30 years, than its antonym "intrepid." "Trepid" (from Latin "trepidus," meaning "alarmed" or "agitated") isn't used as much as "intrepid," but it can be a good word at times. Bill Kaufman, for example, found a use for it in a May 7, 2000 Newsday article, in which an aquarium volunteer is "asked if she is perhaps a little trepid about swimming with sharks in a 12-foot deep, 120,000 gallon tank." (Her fearless reply: "Not really.") The more intrepid among you might even consider using "trepidate" for "to tremble with fear" and "trepidant," meaning "timid" or "trembling." These are uncommon words, granted, but they haven't breathed their last.

Word - 177

YOKEL \YOH-kul\ noun

: a naive or gullible inhabitant of a rural area or small town

Example sentence:
"I was trying to get off the subway," complained Amy, "but some befuddled yokels were blocking the door, trying to figure out if this was their stop."

Did you know?

The origins of "yokel" are uncertain, but it might have come from the dialectal English word "yokel," meaning "green woodpecker." Other words for supposedly naive country folk are "chawbacon" (from "chaw," meaning "chew," and "bacon"), "hayseed" (which has obvious connections to country life), and "clodhopper" (indicating a clumsy, heavy-footed rustic). But city slickers don't always have the last word: rural folk have had their share of labels for city-dwellers too. One simple example from current use is the often disparaging use of the adjective "citified." A more colorful (albeit historical) example is "cockney," which literally means "cock's egg," or more broadly "misshapen egg." In the past, this word often designated a spoiled or foppish townsman -- as opposed to the sturdy countryman, that is.

Word - 176

MEANDER \mee-AN-der\ verb

*1 : to follow a winding or intricate course

2 : to wander aimlessly or casually without urgent destination

: ramble

Example sentence:
As we meandered through the underground maze, we stumbled upon a pile of stones that appeared to mark a burial site.

Did you know?

"Roam," "ramble," and "meander" all mean to move about from place to place without a plan or definite purpose, but each suggests wandering in a unique way. "Roam" refers to carefree wandering over a wide area often for pleasure (as in, "I roamed over the hills for hours"). "Ramble" stresses carelessness and indifference to one’s course or objective (for instance, "the speaker rambled on without ever coming to the point"). "Meander," which comes from Greek "Maiandros," an old name for a river in Asia Minor, implies a winding course and lazy movement, and it is still sometimes associated with rivers (as in, "the river meandered through the town"). "Meander" can also be used as a noun meaning "a winding path."

Word - 175

XERIC \ZEER-ik\ adjective

: characterized by, relating to, or requiring only a small amount of moisture

Example sentence:
Many cacti have thick, succulent stems that can store enough water to allow them to survive even in xeric habitats.

Did you know?

By the late 1800s, botanists were using the terms "xerophyte" and "xerophytic" for plants that were well adapted for survival in dry environments. But some felt the need of a more generic word that included both animals and plants. In 1926 that group proposed using "xeric" (derived from "xeros," the Greek word for "dry") as a more generalized term for either flora or fauna. They further suggested that "xerophytic ... be entirely abandoned as useless and misleading." Not everyone liked the idea. In fact, the Ecological Society of America stated that "xeric" was "not desirable," preferring terms such as "arid." Others declared that "xeric" should refer only to habitats, not to organisms. Scientists used it anyway, and by the 1940s "xeric" was well documented in scientific literature.

Word - 174

NATIVITY \nuh-TIH-vuh-tee\ noun

*1 : the process or circumstances of being born; especially capitalized : the birth of Jesus

2 : a horoscope at or of the time of one's birth

3 : the place of origin

Example sentence:
On Christmas morning, church bells joyously pealed a reminder that the day marked the anniversary of the Nativity.

Did you know?

"Nativity" is one of many words born of the Latin verb "nasci," which means "to be born." The gestation of the word was a long one. "Nasci" developed in Latin into "nativitas," meaning "birth," which passed through Middle French as "nativite" before entering English in the 14th century. "Nativity" has many siblings and cousins in our language; other terms of the lineage of "nasci" include "cognate," "innate," "nascent," "native," and "renaissance."

Word - 173

SCAPEGRACE \SKAYP-grayss\ noun

: an incorrigible rascal

Example sentence:
Joanna was at a loss for ways to help her teenage brother, a scapegrace who always found himself in trouble with the police.

Did you know?

At first glance, you might think "scapegrace" has something in common with "scapegoat," our word for a person who takes the blame for someone else's mistake or calamity. Indeed, the words do share a common source -- the verb "scape," a variant of "escape" that was once far more common than it is today. "Scapegrace," which first appeared in English in the mid-18th century (over 200 years after "scapegoat"), arrived at its meaning through its literal interpretation as "one who has escaped the grace of God." (Two now-obsolete words based on a similar notion are "scape-thrift," meaning "spendthrift," and "want-grace," a synonym of "scapegrace.") In ornithological circles, "scapegrace" can also refer to a loon with a red throat, but this sense is rare.

Word - 172

VIDELICET \vuh-DEH-luh-set\ adverb

: that is to say

: namely

Example sentence:
The restaurant is famous for several dishes: videlicet, arroz con pollo, olla podrida, and carne asada.

Did you know?

The abbreviation of "videlicet" is "viz," and people often wonder how the "z" got there. There is no "z" in the word's Latin roots, "videre" ("to see") and "licet" ("it is permitted"). As it turns out, the "z" in "viz" originally wasn't a "z" at all. It was a symbol that looked like a "z" and that was used in medieval manuscripts to indicate the contraction of Latin words ending in "-et." When the symbol was carried into English, it was converted into the more familiar "z."

Word - 171

CONCILIATARY \kun-SILL-yuh-tor-ee\ adjective

: tending to win over from a state of hostility or distrust

: intended to gain the goodwill or favor of someone

Example sentence:
As the irate customer yelled, the manager adopted a soothing, conciliatory tone and promised that the situation would be remedied.

Did you know?

If you are "conciliatory" towards someone, you're trying to win them over to your side. The verb "conciliate" was borrowed into English in the mid-16th century and descends from the Latin verb "conciliare," meaning "to assemble, unite, or win over." "Conciliare," in turn, comes from Latin "concilium," meaning "assembly" or "council." "Conciliatory," which appeared in English a bit later in the 16th century, traces back to "conciliare" by way of the Latin adjective "conciliatorius." Another word that has "conciliare" as a root is "reconcile," the earliest meaning of which is "to restore to friendship or harmony."