Word - 145

HYPAETHRAL \hye-PEETH-rul\ adjective

*1 : having a roofless central space
2 : open to the sky

Example sentence:
During our tour of Egypt, we visited the hypaethral temple of Philae, which was dismantled and relocated after the construction of a dam caused its original site to be submersed.

Did you know?

Ancient Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius used the Latin word "hypaethrus" to describe temples in which the "cella" (the part of the temple housing an image of the deity) was wholly or partially uncovered. "Hypaethrus" is a word sculpted from the Greek prefix "hypo-," meaning "under or beneath," and the Greek word "aither," meaning "air or heaven." In the late-18th century, English classicists adopted the remodeled form "hypaethral" in their writings of ancient architecture. Another adjective that they occasionally employed is "cleithral," which designates temples having roofed central spaces. ("Cleithral" comes from "kleithra," the Greek word for "lattice.")

Word - 144

LITANY \LIH-tuh-nee\ noun

1 : a prayer consisting of a series of invocations and supplications by the leader with alternate responses by the congregation
2 a : a resonant or repetitive chant
*b : a usually lengthy recitation or enumeration
c : a sizable series or set

Example sentence:
The student offered the usual litany of excuses for being late.

Did you know?

"Litany" came to English through Anglo-French and Late Latin, and ultimately from the Greek word "litaneia," meaning "entreaty." A "litany" refers literally to a type of prayer in which a series of lines are spoken alternately by a leader and a congregation. Recent decades have seen the development of three figurative senses. The chant-like quality of a literal litany led to the "repetitive chant" sense. Next, the repetitious nature of the original litany led to the "lengthy recitation" sense. Finally, the "lengthy recitation" sense led to the meaning "a sizable series or set."

Word - 143

RETICENT \RET-uh-sunt\ adj

*1 : inclined to be silent or uncommunicative in speech : reserved
2 : restrained in expression, presentation, or appearance
3 : reluctant

Example sentence:
Unlike the chatty, gregarious protagonists of his novel, the author is quite reticent in public.

Did you know?

"Reticent" first appeared about 170 years ago, but the "reluctant" sense of "reticent" is a mid-20th century introduction. Though it is now well-established, this newer sense bothers some people, particularly because it has veered away from the word's Latin origins -- "reticent" is from the verb "reticere," meaning "to keep silent." But there is some sense in the way the newer meaning developed. We first tended to use the "reluctant" sense of "reticent" when the context was speech (as in "reticent to talk about her past"), thus keeping the word close to its "silent" sense. Eventually, however, exclusive association with speech was abandoned. Now one can be "reticent" to do anything.

Word - 142

LODE STAR \LOHD-star\ noun

: one that serves as an inspiration, model, or guide

Example sentence:
When she started her own business, Melinda used her father's motto -- "Trust your instincts" -- as her lodestar.

Did you know?

The literal, albeit archaic, meaning of "lodestar" is "a star that leads or guides; especially : the North Star." (The first half of the word derives from the Middle English word "lode," meaning "course.") Both the literal and the figurative sense ("an inspiration or guide") date back to the 14th century, the time of Geoffrey Chaucer. The literal sense fell out of use in the 17th century, and so, for a while, did the figurative sense -- but it appeared again 170 years later, when Sir Walter Scott used it in his 1813 poem The Bridal of Triermain.

word - 141

ONUS \OH-nuss\ noun

*1 : burden
2 : a disagreeable necessity : obligation
3 : blame

Example sentence:
Everyone else on the overworked staff was relieved when the onus of handling the new project fell to Cindy.

Did you know?

Understanding the etymology of "onus" is not at all burdensome; it's as simple as knowing that English borrowed the word -- spelling, meaning, and all -- from Latin in the 17th century. We can also add that it's a distant relative of the Sanskrit word for "cart" (a vehicle that carries a burden). English isn't exactly loaded with derivatives of Latin "onus," but the root did give us "onerous" ("troublesome") and "exonerate" ("to clear from accusation or blame" -- thus, "to unburden"). Additionally, our legal language has "onus probandi," which is often shortened to "onus." It means "burden of proof" -- that is, the obligation of proving a disputed assertion in a court of law.