Word - 105

CASTIGATE \KASS-tuh-gayt\ verb

: to subject to severe punishment, reproof, or criticism

Example sentence:

Before sentencing, the judge angrily castigated the two young defendants for their malicious act of vandalism.

Did you know?

"Castigate" has a synonym in "chastise" -- both verbs mean to punish or to censure someone. Fittingly, both words derive from the same root: the Latin "castigare," formed from the words for "pure" ("castus") and "to drive" ("agere"). ("Castus" also gave us the noun "caste," meaning "social class or rank.") Another verb derived from "castigare" is "chasten," which can also mean "to discipline by punishment" but more commonly means "to subdue or make humble" (as in "chastened by his foolish error"). "Castigate" is the youngest of the three verbs in English, dating from the early 17th century, some three centuries after "chasten" and "chastise."

Word - 104

PALMARY \PAL-muh-ree\ adj

: outstanding, best

Example sentence:

Louis Pasteur is best known for originating pasteurization, but he also made palmary contributions in the field of immunology, including finding a vaccination for anthrax.

Did you know?

English speakers have been using "palmary" since the 1600s, and its history stretches back even further than that. It was the ancient Romans who first used their "palmarius" to describe someone or something extraordinary. "Palmarius" literally translates as "deserving the palm." But what does that mean exactly? Was it inspired by palms of hands coming together in applause? That would be a good guess, but the direct inspiration for "palmarius" was the palm leaf given to a victor in a sports competition. That other palm, the one on the hand, is loosely related. The Romans thought the palm tree's leaves resembled an outstretched palm of the hand; they thus used their word "palma" for both meanings, just as we do with "palm" in English.

Word - 103

FACETIOUS \fuh-SEE-shuss\ adjective

*1 : joking or jesting often inappropriately : waggish

2 : meant to be humorous or funny : not serious

Example sentence:
Gwen was being facetious when she used the word "classy" to describe Bill's brightly colored necktie.

Did you know?

"Facetious" came to English from the Middle French word "facetieux," which traces to the Latin word "facetia," meaning "jest." "Facetia" seems to have made only one other lasting contribution to the English language: "facetiae," meaning "witty or humorous writings or sayings." "Facetiae," which comes from the plural of "facetia" and is pronounced fuh-SEE-shee-ee or fuh-SEE-shee-eye, is a far less common word than "facetious," but it does show up occasionally. For example, in a letter to the editor published in the Seattle Times, August 26, 1995, a reader used the following words to describe a column written by the humorist Dave Barry: "Hey, it's a HUMOR column, based entirely upon facetiae."

Word - 102

KOINE \koy-NAY\ noun

1 capitalized : the Greek language commonly spoken and written in eastern Mediterranean countries in the Hellenistic and Roman periods

*2 : a dialect or language of a region that has become the common or standard language of a larger area

Example sentence:

Koines inevitably developed in the early British colonies as different dialects converged.

Did you know?

Koine, which means "common" or "shared" in Greek, was the language spoken in the eastern Mediterranean countries from the 4th century B.C. until the time of the Byzantine emperor Justinian (mid-6th century A.D.). In linguistics, the word "koine" is applied to a language developed from contact between dialects of the same language over a large region. Basically, a koine adopts those grammatical and lexical elements from the dialects of the region that are easily recognized by most area speakers and dispenses with those that are not.

Word - 101

DIVULGE \duh-VULJ\ verb

: to make known (as a confidence or secret)

Example sentence:
Sarah promised not to divulge the news of her friend's promotion until it was official.

Did you know?

It isn't vulgar to make known the roots of "divulge" -- and that sentence contains two hints about the word's origin. "Divulge" was borrowed into Middle English in the 15th century from Latin "divulgare," a word that combines the prefix "dis-," which meant "apart" or "in different directions" in Latin, with "vulgare," meaning "to make known." "Vulgare," in turn, derives from the Latin noun "vulgus," meaning "mob" or "common people." As you have no doubt guessed, English "vulgar" is another word which can be traced back to "vulgus"; it came into use about a century before "divulge."