Word - 155

JURISPRUDENCE \joor-us-PROO-dunss\ noun

1 : the science or philosophy of law
2 *a : a system or body of law
b : the course of court decisions
3 : a department of law

Example sentence:
A basic premise of American jurisprudence is that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Did you know?

"For a farewell to our jurisprudent, I wish unto him the gladsome light of jurisprudence...." With this valedictory to English jurist Sir Thomas Littleton, another jurist, Sir Edward Coke, welcomed two new words into English. In 1628, his "jurisprudence" meant "knowledge of or skill in law," a now archaic sense that reflects the literal meaning of the word. "Jurisprudence" goes back to Latin "prudentia juris" (literally "skill in law"), from which was derived the Late Latin formation "jurisprudentia," and subsequently our word. The noun "jurisprudent" means "one skilled in law" -- in other words, "a jurist." There's also "jurisprude," a 20th-century back-formation created from "jurisprudence" with influence from "prude." It means "one who makes ostentatious show of jurisprudential learning."

Word - 154

GOLEM \GOH-lum\ noun

1 : an artificial being in Hebrew folklore endowed with life
*2 : someone or something resembling a golem

Example sentence:
With the flick of a switch, the scientist brought life to his creation, then watched with awe as the golem rose from the table.

Did you know?

The Hebrew ancestor of the word "golem" meant "shapeless mass," and the original golems started as lumps of clay that were formed into figures and brought to life by means of a charm or a combination of letters forming a sacred word. In the Middle Ages, golems were thought to be the perfect servants; their only fault was that they were sometimes too literal or mechanical in fulfilling their masters' orders. In the 16th century, the golem was thought of as a protector of the Jews in times of persecution. But by the late 1800s, "golem" had acquired a less friendly second sense, referring to a man-made monster that inspired many of the back-from-the-dead creations of classic horror fiction.

Word - 153

INEFFABLE \in-EFF-uh-bul\ adjective

1 *a : incapable of being expressed in words : indescribable b : unspeakable
2 : not to be uttered : taboo

Example sentence:
Ed felt an ineffable joy at the sight of his son walking toward him from the plane.

Did you know?

"Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains. The hearing of those wild notes always depressed my spirit, and filled me with ineffable sadness," wrote Frederick Douglass in his autobiography. Reading Douglass's words, it's easy to see that "ineffable" means "indescribable" or "unspeakable." And when we break down the word to its Latin roots, it's easy to see how those meanings came about. "Ineffable" comes from "ineffabilis," which joins the prefix "in-," meaning "not," with the adjective "effabilis," meaning "capable of being expressed." "Effabilis" comes from "effari" ("to speak out"), which in turn comes from "ex-" and "fari" ("to speak").

Word - 152

DRAGOON \druh-GOON\ verb

1 : to subjugate or persecute by harsh use of troops
*2 : to force into submission or compliance especially by violent measures

Example sentence:
Boys of all ages were taken from their families and dragooned into fighting for the rebel armies.

Did you know?

A dragoon was a mounted European infantryman of the 17th and 18th centuries armed with a firearm called by the same name. No arm-twisting should be needed to get you to believe that the firearm's name, which came to English from French, is derived from its semblance to a fire-breathing dragon when fired. History has recorded the dragonish nature of the dragoons who persecuted the French Protestants in the 17th century, during the reign of Louis XIV. The persecution by means of the dragoons led to the use of the word "dragoon" as a verb.

Word - 151

PROLIX \proh-LIKS\ adjective

1 : unduly prolonged or drawn out : too long
*2 : marked by or using an excess of words

Example sentence:
Legal writing is not always prolix; after all, the word "brief" refers to a legal document, and most judges demand that briefs be brief.

Did you know?

There's no way to talk about "prolix" without being redundant, verbose, and wordy. That's because the word is a synonym of all of those long-winded terms. Of those words, "prolix" is the one most likely to suggest unreasonable and tedious dwelling on details. It derives from "prolixus," a Latin term meaning "extended" or "copious." "Prolixus" originated from a combination of the prefix "pro-" (which means "forward") and the past participle of "liquere," a verb meaning "to be fluid." True to that history, something that is prolix flows on and on.