Word - 160

EXCULPATE \EK-skull-payt\ verb

: to clear from alleged fault or guilt

Example sentence:
The lawyer claimed to have recently discovered evidence that would exculpate her client.

Did you know?

You need not take the blame if you're unfamiliar with the origins of "exculpate," but there's a hint in this sentence. The word, which was adopted in the late 17th century from Medieval Latin "exculpatus," traces back to the Latin noun "culpa," meaning "blame." Some other descendants of "culpa" in English include "culpable" ("meriting condemnation or blame") and "inculpate" ("incriminate"), as well as the considerably rarer "culpatory" ("accusing") and "disculpate" (a synonym of "exculpate"). You may also be familiar with the borrowed Latin phrase "mea culpa," which translates directly as "through my fault" and is used in English to mean "a formal acknowledgment of personal fault or error."

Word - 159

LOTHARIO \loh-THAIR-ee-oh\ noun

: a man whose chief interest is seducing women

Example sentence:
Marie denounced her ex-boyfriend as a conniving lothario who liked to play the field but who had no interest in making a real commitment.

Did you know?

"Lothario" comes from The Fair Penitent (1703), a tragedy by Nicholas Rowe. In the play, Lothario is a notorious seducer, extremely attractive but beneath his charming exterior a haughty and unfeeling scoundrel. He seduces Calista, an unfaithful wife and later the fair penitent of the title. After the play was published, the character of Lothario became a stock figure in English literature. For example, Samuel Richardson modeled the character of Lovelace on Lothario in his 1748 novel Clarissa. As the character became well known, his name became progressively more generic, and since the 18th century the word "lothario" has been used for a foppish, unscrupulous rake.

Word - 158

DERELICT \DAIR-uh-likt\ adjective

1 : abandoned especially by the owner or occupant
: run-down

*2 : lacking a sense of duty
: negligent

Example sentence:
In letting the children stay up late into the night watching television, the babysitter was derelict in her duty.

Did you know?

The Latin verb "relinquere" left behind a few English derivatives. This word, itself meaning "to leave behind," is the root of our "derelict." Something derelict has been left behind, or at least appears that way. In another sense, someone derelict leaves behind or neglects his or her duties or obligations. Another descendent of "relinquere" is "relinquish," meaning "to leave behind," "to give up," or "to release." "Relic" is another example of a word that ultimately comes from "relinquere." "Relics," in the original sense of the term, referred to things treasured for their association with a saint or martyr -- that is, objects saints and martyrs had left behind.

Word - 157

CARPACCIO \kar-PAH-chee-oh\ noun

: thinly sliced raw meat or fish served with a sauce -- often used postpositively

Example sentence:
"Though the menu is large, stick with the steaks and the beef carpaccio at this sleek, airy restaurant." (The San Francisco Chronicle, July 31, 2008)

Did you know?

Carpaccio is not the only dish named after a person, though its name might have the most artful origin. Created in 1950 by Venetian restaurateur Giuseppe Cipriani, carpaccio is named after Vittore Carpaccio, the Renaissance painter. Cipriani created the dish for the Countess Amalia Nani Mocenigo, who had been under doctor's orders to avoid cooked meats. According to Cipriani's memoir, he chose to name the dish after Carpaccio because the red in the beef matched the colors found in Carpaccio's paintings. Recently, some restaurants have begun using the term for similarly prepared non-meat dishes (such as pear carpaccio).

Word - 156

OFFICINAL \uh-FISS-uh-nul\ adjective

: tending or used to cure disease or relieve pain
: medicinal

Example sentence:
The officinal properties of the plant, recently discovered in the Amazon rain forest, are still being studied.

Did you know?

"Officinal" is a word applied in medicine to plants and herbs that are used in medicinal preparations. In the 19th century, it was the standard word used by the United States Pharmacopeia to refer to the drugs, chemicals, and medicinal preparations that they recognized, but in 1893 it was replaced by "official" in this context. Despite this supersession, you still can find a healthy dose of "officinal" in the pharmaceutical field, where it is used today as a word describing preparations that are regularly kept in stock at pharmacies. "Officinal" was derived from the Medieval Latin noun "officina," a word for the storeroom of a monastery in which provisions and medicines were kept. In Latin, "officina" means "workshop."