gulosity

gu•los•i•ty (gyoo-LOS-i-tee)  adj

Definition:
greediness; voracity; excessive appetite for food; gluttony

Origin:
1490–1500; Middle English gulosite, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin gulositas, from Latin gulosus "gluttonous", from gula "gullet"

Related:
Synonyms: edacity, voracity, esurience, gluttonousness, rapaciousness, rapacity, ravenousness, voraciousness
Related Words: glutton, gullet, gullible

Sentence Examples:
• Most freedom fighters are assimilated and digested by the very establishment they fought against or as the founders of new, privileged nomenklaturas. It is then that their true nature is exposed, mired in gulosity and superciliousness as they become. -Terrorists and Freedom Fighters, Sam Vaknin

• You may surround the iron and the magnet with what enclosures and encumbrances you please,—with wood, with rubbish, with brass: it matters not, the two feel each other, they struggle restlessly toward each Other, they will be together. The iron may be a Scottish squirelet, full of gulosity and "gigmanity"; the magnet an English plebeian, and moving rag-and-dust mountain, coarse, proud, irascible, imperious; nevertheless, behold how they embrace, and inseparably cleave to one another! -Thomas Carlyle

• In the mean time, the piano is joined by a harp, in musical solicitation of the company to join the ladies in the drawing-room; they do so, looking flushed and plethoric, sink into easy-chairs, sip tea, the younger beaux turning over, with miss, Books of Beauty and Keepsakes: at eleven, coaches and cabs arrive, you take formal leave, expressing with a melancholy countenance your sense of the delightfulness of the evening, get to your chambers, and forget, over a broiled bone and a bottle of Dublin stout, in what an infernal, prosy, thankless, stone-faced, yellow-waistcoated, unsympathizing, unintellectual, selfish, stupid set you have been condemned to pass an afternoon, assisting, at the ostentatious exhibition of vulgar wealth, where gulosity has been unrelieved by one single sally of wit, humour, good-nature, humanity, or charity; where you come without a welcome, and leave without a friend. -Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, 1843

The Storyline
Finally the dam burst and out from Anna came a wellspring of anger and recrimination. Her father was taken aback and Sara mortified. But Anna was not deterred and feasted on her own bile, even as she was surprised by her own gulosity for vituperation.


Sources: Wordnik, Merriam-Webster

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

brumal

bru•mal (BROO-muhl)  adj

Definition:
1. belonging to winter; winter-like
2. characteristic or related to winter
3. occurring in winter

Origin:
1513; from L. brumalis, from bruma "winter" (perhaps with an original sense "season of the shortest day," from *brevima, contracted from brevissima, superl. of brevis "short"). Source of Brumaire, second month (Oct. 22-Nov. 20) in calendar of the French Republic, lit. "the foggy month," coined 1793 by Fabre d'Eglantine from Fr. brume "fog," from L. bruma

Related:
Synonyms: hibernal, hiemal, wintry
Related Words: brume, brumous

Sentence Examples:
• But we were now in the very heart of winter, and after much frost scarcely a single wretched brumal flower lingered and languished. -Shelley at Oxford, Thomas Jefferson Hogg

• The robin returns from the land of fire, and therefore he feels the cold of winter far more than his brother birds. He shivers in the brumal blast; hungry, he chirps before your door. Oh! my child, then, in gratitude throw a few crumbs to poor red-breast.

•         "Old longings nomadic leap,
          Chafing at custom's chain;
          Again from its brumal sleep
          Wakens the ferine strain."
-The Call of the Wild, Jack London

The Storyline
Anna felt cold. Outside it was summer. But in that office the climate was brumal.

Sources: Wiktionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

parturition

par•tu•ri•tion (pahr-too-RISH-uhn)  n

Definition:
the act or process of giving birth; childbirth

Origin:
1646; from L. parturitionem, noun of action from parturire "be in labor," desiderative of parere "to bear, bring forth, give birth to, produce," from PIE base *per- "to bring forth"

Related:
Synonyms: childbearing, delivery, labor, childbirth, birth
Related Words: from parere "to bring forth, bear": parturient, viviparous, oviparous, multiparous, transparent, pauper, parent, postpartum

Sentence Examples:
• Dreams of this sort are parturition dreams; their interpretation is accomplished by reversing the fact reported in the manifest dream content; thus, instead of "throwing one's self into the water," read "coming out of the water," that is, "being born." -Dream Psychology, Sigmund Freud

• [The death-god's] head ornament varies in the Dresden Codex; in the first portion of the manuscript, relating in part to pregnancy and child-birth, he wears on his head several times a figure occurring very frequently just in this part of the Dresden Codex and apparently representing a snail, which among the Aztecs is likewise a symbol of parturition. -Representation of Deities of the Maya Manuscripts, Paul Schellhas

• Any place into which women are received to be cared for before, during or after parturition shall be considered as a maternity hospital or home. -Rules and regulations governing maternity hospitals and homes, 1922, California State Board of Charities and Corrections

The Storyline
"Young lady, remember I'm your father," he retorted. But his role in her parturition was not sufficient to give him the upper hand again.

Sources: Free Dictionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

quondam

quon•dam (KWON-duhm, -dam)  n

Definition:
that once was; former


Origin:
1530s, Latin, quondam "formerly"

Sentence Examples:
• Though in direct opposition to the will of Major Berry, my father's quondam master and friend, Judge Wash tore my father from his wife and children and sold him "way down South!"  -From the Darkness Cometh the Light, or Struggles for Freedom, Lucy A. Delaney

• In fact, he seemed rather obliged to the brokers than otherwise for taking the quondam furniture off his hands.  -Chambers' Edinburgh Journal, 1852

• But the book I had bought was a success, a great success, if the newspapers and the reports of the sales were to be trusted. I read the criticisms out of curiosity more than any other prompting, and no two of them were alike: they veered from extreme negative to extreme positive. ...However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame. -The Celebrity, Winston Churchill

The Storyline
...thereby regaining some measure of her quondam self-esteem.

Sources: Free Dictionary

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

revanchist

re•van•chist (ruh-VAN-chist)   

Definition:
adj
of or pertaining to a political policy of regaining lost territory or standing, as of a nation or an ethnic group, esp. in order to seek vengeance for a previous military defeat

noun
an advocate or supporter of a political policy of revanche

revanche, revanchism noun; revanchistic adjective

Origin:
1926 (on model of Fr. revanchiste), from revanche "revenge, requital" (1858), especially in reference to a national policy seeking return of lost territory, from Fr. revanche, lit. "revenge," from M.Fr. revenche, back-formation from revenchier

Related:
Related Words: revenge

Sentence Examples:
• The central thesis of my Interregnum meme is "the old is dying, but the new cannot be born". This is because the revanchist forces still fight from their bunkers. Case in point, the Big Banks are fighting Obama on derivative reform. -TPM, 2009

• While Europe sleeps, he suggests, Moscow's secret police are infiltrating foreign governments, establishing a transcontinental energy monopoly and exploiting divisions between Paris, Berlin, Warsaw and Tallinn. Exacerbating all of the above is the fact that no one is doing much to counter this angry, revanchist Russia. -The New Cold War,Time, 2008

• In the months since, Kohl, along with the skilled and dogged Hans-Dietrich Genscher, has made some perspicacious moves, such as his detailed and reasonable plan for confederation in November. But he scared and angered his Eastern neighbors by letting them think he was leaving open the possibility that a unified Germany might press revanchist claims on parts of Poland. -Bringing Kohl Down to Earth, Time, 1990

The Storyline
Anna's father sought to regain the floor and began to speak, but Anna would have nothing of his revanchist ploy. "Why are you here, anyway?" she asked with uncharacteristic bluntness.

Sources: Dictionary.com, Free Dictionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

jape

jape (jeyp)

Definition:
noun
1. something designed to arouse amusement or laughter
2. a trick or practical joke

verb, intransitive
to say or do something jokingly or mockingly

verb, transitive
to make mocking fun of

japed past participle; japed past tense; japiing present participle; japes 3rd person singular present
japer, japery noun

Origin:
c.1300, "to trick, beguile," perhaps from O.Fr. japer "to howl," of echoic origin, or from O.Fr. gaber "to mock, deride." Phonetics suits the former, but sense the latter explanation. Took on a slang sense mid-15c. of "have sex with," and disappeared from polite usage. Revived in harmless M.E. sense of "say or do something in jest" by Scott, etc.

Related:
Synonyms: fool, jeer, jest, mock, prank, quip, trick
Related Words: jibe

Sentence Examples:
• He scarce lost an opportunity to put them down with a rough jape; and, to say truth, it was not difficult, for they were neither of them quick. -Weir of Hermiston, Robert Louis Stevenson

• Then for a moment we fell to jape and jesting; foolishly, for the Gods are always listening, and the Desert-Gods have long ears. -The Leicestershires beyond Baghdad, Edward John Thompson

• This obscene drawing is matched by many equally odious.  Abject domesticity, ignominies of married life, of middle-age, of money-making; the old common jape against the mother-in-law; abominable weddings: in one drawing a bridegroom with shambling side-long legs asks his bride if she is nervous; she is a widow, and she answers, "No, never was."  In all these things there is very little humour. -Essays, Alice Meynell

The Storyline
Sensing the tension, Sara attempted to diffuse the situation with an inappropriate jape directed at the mess in the office and room fell into awkward silence.

Sources: Merriam-Webster, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

immure

im•mure (ih-MYOOR)  v

Definition:
1. to confine within or as if within walls; imprison
2. to put or bury within a wall or build into a wall
3. to surround with walls; wall; fortify; protect

immured past participle; immured past tense; immuring present participle; immures 3rd person singular present; immurement, immuration noun

Origin:
1575–85; from M.L. immurare, lit. "to shut up within walls," from L. in- "in" + murus "wall"

Related:
Synonyms: confine, cloister, entomb, imprison, incarcerate, jail, seclude, wall
Related Words: mural, intermural, intramural

Sentence Examples:
• He voluntarily left Paris to immure himself in his native town of Aix, there to work out in peace long-planned projects, which would, he believed, revolutionise the technique of painting. -Promenades of an Impressionist, James Huneker

• She knew, or thought she knew, that persecution could not go now beyond the work of the tongue. No priest could immure her. No law could touch her because she was minded to marry a Jew. -Nina Balatka, Anthony Trollope

• After six weeks’ careful treatment Don Juan was perfectly cured, and could use his eye as well as he did previous to his accident. Nevertheless, to my great regret, the Captain still continued to immure himself; his re-appearance in society, which he had forsaken for more than a year, would have produced an immense sensation, and I should have been considered the first doctor in the Philippines.  -Adventures in the Philippine Islands, Paul P. de La Gironière

The Storyline
Each piece, each affront, each shock was another wall that immured her in an invisible prison. And she felt claustrophobic and confined.

Sources: Wordnik, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

defalcation

de•fal•ca•tion (dee-fal-KEY-shuhn)  n

Definition:
1. misappropriation of money or funds held by an official, trustee, or other fiduciary
2. the sum misappropriated

defalcate verb

Origin:
1425–75; from M.L. defalcationem (nom. defalcatio), from pp. stem of defalcare, from de- + L. falx, falcem "sickle, scythe, pruning hook"

Related:
Synonyms: misappropriation, misuse, peculation, pilferage; deficiency, insufficiency, shortfall, underage
Related Words: falcon, falcate

Sentence Examples:
• And now, when it came to the turn of any servant, he received sixty-nine shillings instead of seventy, and the cause of the defalcation was explained to him. I never saw one of those servants without feeling I had picked his pocket. -Autobiography of Anthony Trollope

• A strict responsibility on the part of all the agents of the Government should be maintained and peculation or defalcation visited with immediate expulsion from office and the most condign punishment.  -A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Tyler

• Not income tax evasion by bankers but downright defalcation was the subject when the Senate sub-committee investigating the closing of Manhattan's Harriman National Bank got John William Pole, onetime Comptroller of the Currency, before it. The committee wanted to know why he had not personally investigated the case of Joseph Wright Harriman, accused of crockery. -Trial by Whisper, Time 1933

The Storyline
Anna felt stretched and divided past all tolerance. Moments earlier she had stumbled across a possible defalcation in one of the cashiers' drawer. Now this.

Why This Word:

"The tea table shall be set forth every morning with its customary bill of fare, and without any manner of defalcation." No reference to embezzlement there! This line, from a 1712 issue of Spectator magazine, is an example of the earliest, and now archaic, sense of "defalcation," which is simply defined as "curtailment." "Defalcation" is ultimately from the Latin word "falx," meaning "sickle" (a tool for cutting), and it has been a part of English since the 1400s. It was used early on of monetary cutbacks (as in "a defalcation in their wages"), and by the 1600s it was used of most any sort of financial reversal (as in "a defalcation of public revenues"). Not till the mid-1800s, however, did "defalcation" refer to breaches of trust that cause a financial loss, or, specifically, to embezzlement. 

Sources: Dictionary.com, Merriam-Webster

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

helotism

hel•o•tis•m (HEL-uh-tiz-uhm, HEE-luh-)  n

Definition:
1. a system under which a nominally free social class or a religious, national, or racial minority is permanently oppressed and degraded
2. a type of symbiosis, as among certain ants, in which one species is dominant and makes the members of another species perform the tasks required for their mutual survival
3. the condition or quality of being a Helot

Origin:
1815–25; Helot  + -ism; Helot from Gk. Heilotes, pl. of Heilos, popularly assoc. with Helos, Laconian town reduced to serfdom by Sparta, but perhaps related to Gk. halonai "be captured"


Sentence Examples:
• In describing her object, Miss Wright said: "No difference will be made in the schools between the white children and the children of color, whether in education or in any other advantage. This establishment is founded on the principle of community of property and labor: these fellow-creatures, that is, the blacks, admitted here, requiting these services by services equal or greater, by filling occupations which their habits render easy, and which to their guides and assistants might be difficult or unpleasing." This form of helotism flourished but three years on American soil. -Woman and the Republic, Helen Kendrick Johnson

• The tyrannical prohibition of emigration excited his vehement protest, and he proceeded also to denounce to the new king the right of seizing the property of deceased foreigners, and demanded for burghers the freedom of purchasing the estates of nobles. He urged Frederick William to abolish the prerogatives claimed by nobles and the helotism of all who were not noble, and suggested that judges should be appointed for life and justice rendered free of expense. -Memoirs, Comte de Mirabeau

• These spendthrifts mingled the roughest practical jokes with a life not so much reckless as suicidal; they drew back from no impossibility, and gloried in pranks which, nevertheless, were confined within certain limits; and as they showed the most original wit in their escapades, it was impossible not to pardon them. No sign of the times more plainly discovered the helotism to which the Restoration had condemned the young manhood of the epoch. -A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Honore de Balzac

The Storyline
"You know the importance I've always placed on being free to be one's authentic self. It's how we raised you kids," he droned on for far too long without reaching the point. But it wasn't true. And the lie brought to mind her repressed resentment of the subtle helotism she lived under growing up.

Sources: Free Dictionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

concupiscent

con•cu•pi•scent (kon-KYOO-pi-suhnt)  adj

Definition:
characterized by amorous or lustful desire or appetite; sensual; libidinous

concupiscence noun;  concupiscently adverb

Origin:
mid-15c., from L. concupiscentem (nom. concupiscens), prp. of concupiscere "to long for, covet", inceptive of concupere "to be very desirous of," from com-, intensive prefix, + cupere "to long for"

Related:
Synonyms: lustful, carnal, desirous, sensual
Related Words: cupidity, covet

Sentence Examples:
• Brother Ambrose allowed himself an inward chortle, as he paced along the portico, recollecting how close to success the scheme had come. The book had had to be read first (or re-read, rather) by Ambrose to determine just which chapter would be most apt to damn a soul with concupiscent suggestion.  -G-r-r-r...!, Roger Arcot

• Trembling with fear at the audacious ambition of his concupiscent companion, the Sloven replied, “If your wish should come to the ears of the King, we shall die; indeed, we should die.”  -Hawaiian Folk Tales

• But of young girls, who had grown up very quickly, alas! who were very precocious, and who very soon became the women that they were, poor vendors of love, always in search of love for which they were paid. That was why, when he had finished his second ballad, and sometimes even sooner, concupiscent looks appeared in their eyes. -Kind Girls, Guy de Maupassant

The Storyline
The concupiscent looks Sara kept giving Anna's father didn't help matters.

Sources: Wordnik, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

obloquy

ob•lo•quy (OB-luh-kwee)  n

Definition:
1. censure, blame, or abusive language aimed at a person or thing, esp. by numerous persons or by the general public
2. discredit, disgrace, or bad repute resulting from public blame, abuse, or denunciation

obloquies plural; obloquial adjective

Origin:
1425–75; from L.L. obloquium "speaking against, contradiction," from ob "against" + loqui "to speak," from PIE *tolkw-/*tlokw- "to speak"

Related:
Synonyms: thersitical, reproach, calumny, aspersion, revilement, abuse, animadversion, aspersion, censure, criticism, defamation, disgrace, humiliation, ignominy, insult, invective, reproach, slander, vituperation, contumely
Related Words: loquitur, loquacious, soliloquy,interlocutor, magniloquence, grandiloquence, colloquy, locution, somniloquy, ventriloquy, circumlocution

Sentence Examples:
• It was the galling reflection that Calais was lost to the French in a Spanish quarrel that crowned the poor Queen's obloquy. She had lost it through wanton neglect.  -The Reign of Mary Tudor, James Anthony Froude

• I said I supposed he would wish me to act as his second, and he said, "Of course." I said I must be allowed to act under a French name, so that I might be shielded from obloquy in my country, in case of fatal results.  -A Tramp Abroad, Mark Twain

• Marguerite, after the death of the Queen her mother and her brothers, though sole heiress of the House of Valois, was, by the Salic law, excluded from all pretensions to the Crown of France; and though for the greater part of her life shut up in a castle, surrounded by rocks and mountains, she has not escaped the shafts of obloquy. -Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois

The Storyline

The lecture started to well up inside Anna the obloquy she had been holding to for too long. She thought she had made her peace. And these emotions frightened her a little.

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

gnomic

gno•mic (NOH-mik)  adj

Definition:
1. sententious; uttering or containing maxims, or striking detached thoughts; aphoristic
2. of, or relating to gnomes

gnomically adjective

Origin:
1805–15; 1815, from Fr. gnomique (18c.) and directly from L.L. gnomicus "concerned with maxims, didactic," from Gk. gnomikos, from gnome "thought, opinion, maxim, intelligence," from base of gignoskein "to come to know". English gnome meant "short, pithy statement of general truth" (1570s). Gnomical is attested from 1610s.

Related:
Synonyms: aphoristic, breviloquent, epigrammatic, laconic, sententious
Related Words: diagnosis, prognosis, gnostic

Sentence Examples:
• Chapman was not dowered with the penetrating imagination that reveals as by a lightning flash unsuspected depths of human character or of moral law. But he has the gnomic faculty that can convey truths of general experience in aphoristic form, and he can wind into a debatable moral issue with adroit casuistry. -Bussy D'Ambois and The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois, George Chapman

• That he is not a poet of the first order is plain, if for no other reason than that he never produced a work in any of the greatest forms of poetry. The drama, the epic, the lyric, were all outside his range. On the other hand, unless a definition of poetry be framed — and Dr. Johnson has well remarked that "to circumscribe poetry by a definition will only show the narrowness of the definer" — which shall exclude all gnomic and satiric verse, and so debar the claims of Hesiod, Juvenal, and Boileau, it is impossible to deny that Pope is a true poet. -The Rape of the Lock and Other Poems, Introduction, Thomas Marc Parrott

• "What do you think of this? It is a loose translation from Posidippus."
"It swings well," said Father Letheby. "But who was he?"
"One of the gnomic, or sententious poets," I replied.
"Greek or Latin?" he asked.
Then I succumbed.
"You never heard his name before?" I said.
"Never," said he emphatically.
-My New Curate, P.A. Sheehan

The Storyline
"We have to to live the life we can, and fully,  to be fully ourselves," he began in his typically gnomic manner.

Sources: Wordnik, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

inculpate

in•cul•pate (in-KUHL-peyt, IN-kuhl-peyt)  v

Definition:
to blame; to impute guilt to; to accuse; to involve or implicate in guilt


inculpation noun; inculpatory adjective

Origin:
1799; from M.L. inculpatus, pp. of inculpare "to reproach, blame, censure," from L. in- "in"  + culpare "to blame," from culpa "fault"

Related:
Antonym: exculpate 
Synonyms: blame, accuse, charge, implicate, incriminate, involve
Related Words: culpable

Sentence Examples:
• Joe had to attend the inquest as a witness. He gave his testimony in a simple, sincere, and candid way that gained him sympathy. His men testified in his behalf, trying to wholly exonerate him and inculpate themselves, and the lawyers cleverly scattered blame from one power to another--the city, the State, the fire department, the building department, etc. It became clear that Joe could not be officially punished; it was evident that he had done as much as the run of employers to protect life, and that his intentions had been blameless. -The Nine-Tenths, James Oppenheim

• At last the mate, wearied by the boy's persistence in the same story, and perhaps a little anxious to inculpate the sailors, seized him one day by the collar, and dragging him to the fore, told him that unless he told the truth, in ten minutes from that time he would hang from the yard arm. -Children's Edition of Touching Incidents and Remarkable Answers to Prayer, S. B. Shaw

• It would do you no good to inculpate me, for it would doom us both to instant death as spies; while a supposed burglar would be simply turned over to the law and punished by a term of imprisonment. -Caesar's Column, Ignatius Donnelly

The Storyline
Anna decided to just be quiet, let her father speak and inculpate himself in his own way.

Sources: Wordnik, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

pogonotrophy

po•go•no•tro•phy (po-guh-NAW-truh-fee)  n

Definition:
the cultivation of beards, beard-growing

Origin:
from Greek pogon "beard" + -trophy "nourishment, growth"

Related:
Related Words: pogonophile, one who loves beards; pogonophobia, a fear of beards; pogonology, the study of beards; pogonotomy, shaving

Sentence Examples:
• The men would look better and feel the better if they were allowed to wear the beard neatly trimmed; and there is no doubt the invaliding which is now so serious a burden to the country would be much reduced, to say nothing of the comfort of the soldier and sailor; and these deserve some consideration against the arguments of General Pipeclay and Admiral Tartar. Ten years' experience may have made us ourselves a little enthusiastic in favour of pogonotrophy; but if a total immunity from toothache, relaxed uvula, coughs, colds, and all the host of rheums be any inducement, then we can cordially recommend the beard in all its glory. -Temple bar, George Augustus Sala, Edmund Hodgson Yates
• It would be curious if pogonotrophy were to be one of the subjects on which our revived convocation was to be occupied. Such a thing is not so improbable, as already the beard-wearing of the clergy has been alluded to in the archdeacon's charge; and we could mention two bishops at least who have adopted the new fashion, though it should be added that the duties of these reverend prelates oblige them to encounter the terrors of climate, against which there is not a doubt the beard is a great protector. - Gazlay's Pacific monthly, John Penn Curry


The Storyline
Or was she just a fan of pogonotrophy, Anna randomly wondered of Sara.

Why This Word:

Do not — as a British journalist did some years ago — confuse this useful word with pogonotomy. Both originate in the Greek word pogon, a beard, but the latter ends in –tomia, cutting, and so is the word for trimming one’s beard, or shaving, the exact opposite of the writer’s intention. Pogonotrophy, on the other hand, ends with Greek trophe, nourishment, so its literal sense is “beard feeding”. Neither word is what you might call common; they usually appear only when somebody is writing in a mock-pompous, tongue-in-cheek way. Other words in pogon include pogonic, pertaining to a beard, and Pogonophora, the systematic name for a group of deep-sea worms; their name actually means “beard bearer”, which is odd, since they don’t have mouths to cultivate them around.

Sources: Free Dictionary, WordSmith, World Wide Words

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

capitation

cap•i•ta•tion (kap-i-TEY-shuhn)  n

Definition:
1. a poll tax
2. a payment or fee of a fixed amount per person; in medicine: a fixed payment remitted at regular intervals to a medical provider by a managed care organization for an enrolled patient
3. a numbering or assessing by the head

capitate verb; capitative adjective

Origin:
 from L. capitationem (nom. capitatio), noun of action from a verb derived from caput "head". Meaning "levying of a poll tax" is from 1640s. Meaning "counting of heads" is from 1610s.

Related:
Synonyms: levy, tariff, tax, fee
Related Words: from caput "head": cabbage, biceps, capillary, triceps, chapter, chieftain, decapitate, captain, cattle, cadet, mischief, capital, cap

Sentence Examples:
• The provision of supplies of books which circulate among schools goes some way towards setting free the money for library books, available to schools by way of annual capitation grant and from local contribution, which is eligible for subsidy. - Report of the National Library Service for the Year Ended 31 March 1958

• Capitation became popular with HMOs during the 1990s, but interest in it waned when providers claimed they were not being adequately compensated for the care they delivered. -Understanding the Health-Care Debate, Time, 2009

• Larry: To be sure we're in a parlous case. The forest laws are dev'lish severe here: an they catch us trespassing upon their hunting ground, we shall pay a neat poll-tax: nothing less than our heads will serve.
Robin: Our heads?
Walter: Yes, faith! they'll soon collect their capitation.
They wear men's heads, sir, hanging at the breast,
Instead of jewels; and at either ear,
Most commonly, a child's, by way of ear-drop.
-The Indian Princess, James Nelson Barker

The Storyline
I should charge a capitation for every person that has tried to tax me today, Anna though to herself. But the toll that was being taken was on her.


Sources: Free Dictionary, Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

maritorious

ma•ri•tor•i•ous (ma-ri-TOR-ee-uhs)  adj

Definition:
excessively fond of one's husband



Origin:
from Latin maritus "married man, husband"

Related:
uxorious: excessively fond of one's wife
Synonyms: none
Related Words: marry, marital

Sentence Examples:
• There once was a man most uxorious,
Who was married to a dame quite maritorious,
This suited them fine as they wined and they dined,
And produced five offspring all rubicund! -2009

• And wherefore doe you this? To please your husband?
  Tis grosse and fulsome: if your husbands pleasure
  Be all your object, and you ayme at honour
  In living close to him, get you from Court,
  You may have him at home; these common put-ofs
  For common women serve: "my honour! husband!"
  Dames maritorious ne're were meritorious:
  Speak plaine, and say "I doe not like you, sir,
  Y'are an ill-favour'd fellow in my eye,"
  And I am answer'd.
-Bussy D'Ambois and The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois, George Chapman


The Storyline
Seeing the look in Anna's eyes and then turning around, Anna's father announced, "I'm married again. This is Sara, " thus explaining the maritorious affectation of the woman in Anna's office. At this, Sara thrust out her hand toward Anna - silently and awkwardly.

Why This Word:

This is the partner to uxorious, of a man who is fond of his wife to the point of doting excess. It is much less well known, to the extent that I have had no success in finding a modern example of its use outside the books on words that cite it.
A Google search turned up what looked at first sight like a number of examples, such as the surprising statement from a school that “Medals and prizes are given to maritorious students”. It took a moment to realise that should have been meritorious. As it happens, that’s oddly relevant, since the only example of the word on record is in Bussy D’Ambois, a tragedy by George Chapman of 1607, in which he coins the word to make a bad pun: “Dames maritorious ne’re were meritorious”. 

The word to describe a husband who is excessively fond of a wife is uxorious. The word maritorious is rare, while uxorious is fairly well known. What does that say about the relative fondness of husbands and wives to each other?

Sources: WordSmith, World Wide Words

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

veridical

ve•rid•i•cal (vuh-RID-i-kuhl)  adj
also veridic

Definition:
1. true, truthful, veracious
2. pertaining to an experience, perception, or interpretation that accurately represents reality
3. coinciding with future events or apparently unknowable present realities

veridicality noun;  veridically adverb

Origin:
1653; from L. veridicus, from verum “truth,” neut. of verus "true" + dic-, stem of dicere “to speak”

Related:
Synonyms: accurate, authentic, correct, factual, genuine, precise, true, truthful, unerring, veracious
Related Words: veridicous;
from verus "true": veritas, veracious, veracity, verity, aver, severity, verisimilitude, verify, very
from dicere “to speak”: contradiction, dictum, dictate, theodicy, indication, interdict, valediction, predict, indictive, dedicate, predicate, vindication, juridical, benediction, abdicate, addict, malediction, diction, judge, edict

Sentence Examples:
• Or he would spin you yarns, sober, farcical, veridical, or invented. And, with transitions infinitely rapid, he would be serious, jocose--solemn, ribald--earnest, flippant--logical, whimsical, turn and turn about. And in every sentence, in its form or in its substance, he would wrap a surprise for you--it was the unexpected word, the unexpected assertion, sentiment, conclusion, that constantly arrived. - Grey Roses, Henry Harland

• Now, Black Magic in the past may have been imposture reinforced by delusion, and to state that it is recurring at the present day does not commit anyone to an opinion upon its veridical origin. - Devil-Worship in France, Arthur Edward Waite

• Here is the pitfall, here is the difficulty, to have ability enough to express the horrible battle that was fought. Ah, would to God that I had now a bottle of the best wine that ever those drank who shall read this so veridical history! -Gargantua and His Son Pantagruel, Francis Rabelais

The Storyline
Anna started to ask who the stranger was, but doubted the answer would be veridical.

Why This Word:
It's true that you could use true or truthful wherever you could use veridical. But the inverse is not true. Veridical is more specific. From its roots, verus dicere, we get to speak the truth. Veridical pertains to a factual account that corresponds to reality. It also has its wild side. There's another meaning and association with hallucinations, visions and phantoms that happen to correspond with truth.

Sources: Wiktionary, Free Dictionary, Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

lissom

lis•som (lis-uhm)  adj
(also lissome, non-standard spelling)

Definition:
1. easily bent; supple
2. having the ability to move with ease; limber


lissomness noun; lissomly adverb

Origin:
c.1800, variant of lithesome; O.E. liðe "soft, mild, gentle, meek," from P.Gmc. *linthijaz, from PIE base *lent- "flexible" + some

Related:
Synonyms: agile, flexible, graceful, limber, lithe, nimble, pliant
Related Words: lithe

Sentence Examples:
• Brief though their acquaintance had been, both of these lissom young gentlemen admired Sally immensely.  -The Adventures of Sally, P. G. Wodehouse

• Baldassare brooded, chewing straws. What a clear colour that girl had, to be sure! What a lissom rascal it was! A fine long girl like that should be married; by all accounts she would make a man a good wife. -Little Novels of Italy, Maurice Henry Hewlett

• Lauriston thrust his hands in his pockets and looked at the girl in sheer perplexity. She was a very pretty, dark girl, nearly as tall as himself, slender and lissom of figure, and decidedly attractive.- The Orange-Yellow Diamond, J. S. Fletcher

The Storyline
Right on cue, in walked an unfamiliar lissom younger woman who stopped and stood just behind Anna's father.

Sources: Free Dictionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

escarpment

e•scarp•ment (ih-SKAHRP-muhnt)  n

Definition:
1. a steep slope or long cliff that results from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations
2. a steep slope in front of a fortification

Origin:
1802, from Fr. escarpment, from escarper "make into a steep slope," from escarpe "slope," from It. scarpa

Related:
Synonyms: slope, cliff, hill, ledge, ridge, bluff, precipice
Related Words: scarp, escarp

Sentence Examples:
• How good it was! There, within his sight, was the great escarpment of rock known as the Devil's Ledge, and away to the east was the black spot in the combe known as the Cave of Mary. Still farther away, towards the south, was the great cattle-pasture, where, as he looked, a thousand cattle roamed. -No Defense, Gilbert Parker

• I dived close to the cliffs and skirted them for several miles without finding the least indication of a suitable landing-place; and then I swung back at a lower level, looking for a clearing close to the bottom of the mighty escarpment; but I could find none of sufficient area to insure safety. I was flying pretty low by this time, not only looking for landing places but watching the myriad life beneath me. -The People that Time Forgot, Edgar Rice Burroughs

• At each end of the Cotswold range, as seen from Evesham, stands, sentinel like, an isolated elevation, and in early times, as present remains testify, both these were occupied as fortified posts. To the east is Meon Hill, and to the south-west stands Bredon, the nearest and most prominent of the group. In the south-east the position of Broadway is decisively marked by its pseudo-Norman tower, and due south the level outline ended by an abrupt escarpment to the eastward is Cleeve Cloud, carrying the range on towards Cheltenham and Bristol. -Evesham, Edmund H. New

The Storyline
Whatever it was, she couldn't fight the feeling that she about to thrown of a steep escarpment.

Sources: Free Dictionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

tenebrous

ten•e•brous (TEN-uh-bruhs)  adj

Definition:
1. shut off from the light : dark, murky
2. hard to understand : obscure
3. causing gloom

tenebrosity, tenebrousness noun

Origin:
1375–1425; from O.Fr. tenebreus (11c.), from L. tenebrosus, from tenebrae "darkness"

Related:
Synonyms: dark, ominous, caliginous, murky, obscure, shadowy, shady, unclear, unilluminated, unintelligible, unlit, tenebrious
Related Words: temerity

Sentence Examples:
• The first dreamers, who were called philosophers imagined that matter and light were co-eternal; they supposed that was all one unformed and tenebrous mass; and from the former they established the principle of evil and of all imperfection, while they regarded the latter as sovereign perfection.  -The Satyricon, Petronius Arbiter
• A few days later he saw at his club a gentleman of his acquaintance, named Austin, who was famous for his intimate knowledge of London life, both in its tenebrous and luminous phases.  -The Great God Pan, Arthur Machen
• But her imagination was roving in the dim oil-lit streets of the tenebrous city, striving for the clairvoyance of love. -Dreamers of the Ghetto, I. Zangwill

The Storyline
She scanned his face for signs of some reason for the sudden and unexpected appearance. But his motives and countenance remained tenebrous.

Sources: Merriam-Webster, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

quean

quean (kween)  n

Definition:
1. an overly forward, impudent woman; shrew; hussy.
2. a prostitute.
3. Scots. a girl or young woman, esp. a robust one.

Origin:
before 1000;  ME quene,  OE cwene;  c. MD quene, kone,  OS, OHG quena,  Goth qino  < Gmc *kweno-n-;  akin to OE cwe-n  woman, queen

Related:
Synonyms: bimbo, floozy, harlot, hussy, jezebel, slattern, tramp, wench


Sentence Examples:
• Well at length he was admitted, and made a member of the family, in which he demeaned himself so well by his willingness to run or go or do any service how mean so ever that he had got the good will of all the whole houshold, only the kitchin maid being a curst quean, and knowing him to be an under servant to her, domineered over him and used him very coursely and roughly, of which he would never complain, though he had cause enough. -The History of Sir Richard Whittington, T. H.

• ExAs fit as ten groats is for the hand of an attorney, as your
French crown for your taffety punk, as Tib's rush for Tom's
forefinger, as a pancake for Shrove Tuesday, a morris for Mayday,
as the nail to his hole, the cuckold to his horn, as a scolding
quean to a wrangling knave, as the nun's lip to the friar's
mouth; nay, as the pudding to his skin.
-All's Well That Ends Well, William Shakespeare

•UNLUCKILY, a neighbour's prying eyes
Beheld their playful pranks with great surprise,
She, from her window, could the scene o'erlook;
When this the fond gallant observ'd, he shook;
Said he, by heav'ns! our frolicking is seen,
By that old haggard, envious, prying quean;
But do not heed it; instantly he chose
To run and wake his wife, who quickly rose;—
So much the dame he fondl'd and caress'd,
The garden walk she took at his request,
To have a nosegay, where he play'd anew
Pranks just the same as those of recent view,
Which highly gratified our lady fair,
Who felt dispos'd, and would at eve repair,
To her good neighbour, whom she bursting found,
With what she'd seen that morn upon the ground.
-Quotes and Images From The Tales and Novels of Jean de La Fontaine

The Storyline
She hadn't seen him since he ran off with the woman who facetiously became referred to as the quean.

Sources: Dictionary.com

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

weltschmerz

welt•schmerz (VELT-shmerts)  n
often capitalized

Definition:
1. mental depression or apathy caused by comparison of the actual state of the world with an ideal state
2. sorrow that one feels and accepts as one's necessary portion in life; sentimental pessimism

Origin:
1864; German, from Welt world + Schmerz pain

Related:
Synonyms: angst, anxiety, depression, uneasiness
Related Words: weltanschauung

Sentence Examples:
• Confounded affectation all this Weltschmerz; you have no right to be anything but a happy man. And if you feel out of spirits, it ought to cheer you up simply to go on deck and look at these seven puppies that come frisking and springing about you, and are ready to tear you to pieces in sheer enjoyment of life. -Farthest North, Fridtjof Nansen

• We allow a great deal of this precious stuff—this Welt-Schmerz of which each generation has need—not only to go unutilized, but to work havoc among the young people themselves. -The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets, Jane Addams

• Too much questioning and too little active responsibility lead, almost as often as too much sensualism does, to the edge of the slope, at the bottom of which lie pessimism and the nightmare or suicidal view of life. But to the diseases which reflection breeds, still further reflection can oppose effective remedies; and it is of the melancholy and Weltschmerz bred of reflection that I now proceed to speak.  -The Will to Believe, William James

The Storyline
But the face that she saw when she finally looked up wasn't the one she expected. It was the same person, but altered, changed by a weariness and weltschmerz etched into the lines on his face. "Dad?"

Why This Word:

Weltschmerz (from the German, meaning world-pain or world-weariness), is a term coined by the German author Jean Paul and denotes the kind of feeling experienced by someone who understands that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind. ...It is also used to denote the feeling of sadness when thinking about the evils of the world—compare empathy, theodicy.

The modern meaning of Weltschmerz in the German language is the psychological pain caused by sadness that can occur when realizing that someone's own weaknesses are caused by the inappropriateness and cruelty of the world and (physical and social) circumstances. Weltschmerz in this meaning can cause depression, resignation and escapism, and can become a mental problem. (Wikipedia)

Sources:  Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

arenaceous

ar•e•na•ceous (ar-uh-NEY-shuhs)  adj

Definition:
1. resembling, derived from, or containing sand; sandy
2. growing in sandy areas


Origin:
1640–50; From Latin harnceus, arnceus : harna, arna, sand;  + -ceus, -aceous

Related:
Synonyms: ammophilous, arenicolous, granular, gritty, sabulous, sandy, arenose
Related Words: arena:  from L. harena "place of combat," originally "sand, sandy place". The central stages of Roman amphitheaters were strewn with sand to soak up the blood.

Sentence Examples:
• The Arabs say that, once “submerged” beneath the arenaceous “flood”, a man loses the power to extricate himself. His energies are suspended, his senses become numbed and torpid, in short, he feels as one who goes to sleep in a snow-storm. -The Boy Slaves, Mayne Reid

• It would seem that these two ranges skirting a part of the northern and southern banks of the Lower Amazons are not the only remnants of this arenaceous formation in its primitive altitude. -The Atlantic Monthly, 1866

• The carriage rolled over a shaky bridge that spanned the brook, then through fields and an expanse of sand scantily covered with arenaceous plants, in whose roots a pine-seed had nestled here and there, stretching dwarf branches over the waste; then came the woods, with many a gap, where lay nothing but yellow sand, and on all sides stumps overgrown with heath and brambles.  -Debit and Credit, Gustav Freytag

The Storyline
Sluggishly she looked up as if her neck and limbs had become filled by something wet and arenaceous.


Sources: Free Dictionary

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

orotund

or•o•tund (AWR-uh-tuhnd)  adj

Definition:
1. marked by fullness, strength, and clarity of sound : sonorous
2. pompous, bombastic

orotundity noun

Origin:
1799; modification of Latin ore rotundo, literally, with round mouth

Related:
Synonyms: ostentatious, bombastic, clear, pompous, resonant, resounding, rich, sonorous, stentorian
Related Words: rotund

Sentence Examples:
• The orotund quality which is so effective in impassioned utterance, and in the expression of deep, forcible, and sublime emotions, is nothing more than pure tone increased in extent of volume, and in intensity of force. This modification of pure tone is very full, very rounds very smooth, and very highly resonant or ringing. -The American Union Speaker, John D. Philbrick

• There is one criticism that has been constantly brought against Morris, and although he answered this criticism a thousand times during his life, it still springs fresh—put forth by little men who congratulate themselves on having scored a point. They ask in orotund, "How could William Morris expect to benefit society at large, when all of the products he manufactured were so high in price that only the rich could buy them?" -Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Elbert Hubbard

• "The dynasty of the house of Thornton must end to-day!" boomed Niles, in his best orotund. Thornton found eyes in the crowd that blinked appreciation. Quizzical wrinkles deepened in his broad face. He plucked a cigar from his waistcoat-pocket and held it down toward Mr. Niles. -The Ramrodders, Holman Day

The Storyline
She reached her desk again and attempted to bury herself in her work. "Anna," she heard and froze for a moment at the recognition of that unmistakable orotund voice.

Sources: Merriam-Webster

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

longanimity

lon•ga•nim•i•ty (long-guh-NIM-i-tee)  n

Definition:
calmness and patience in the face of suffering and adversity; forbearance

longanimous  adjective
Origin:
1400–50; Middle English longanymyte, from Late Latin longanimitat-, longanimitas, from longanimis patient, from Latin longus long + animus soul

Related:
Synonyms: patience, endurance, equanimity, forbearance, imperturbability, perseverance, resignation, restraint, stoicism, tolerance, toleration
Related Words: from Latin longus long: longevity, longitude, elongation, prolong, long

Sentence Examples:
• Annunziata's eyes clouded. A kind of scorn, a kind of pity, and a kind of patient longanimity looked from them. -My Friend Prospero, Henry Harland

• I have been congratulating our friends on their surpassing cheerfulness. Even Zeus is displaying a marvellous longanimity in his adverse state, and Pallas is positively frivolous. -Hypolympia, Edmund Gosse

• Whatever provocation was offered from without or within, he would not attack, nor let his friends attack, until the enemy was in his hand. You, who know what longanimity may be and how hard a thing to come at, may admire him for this. -The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay, Maurice Hewlett

The Storyline
It worked. He could well see in her eyes the absence of her usual longanimity.

Sources:Wordnik, Merriam-Webster

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

battology

bat•tol•o•gy (buh-TOL-uh-jee)  n

Definition:
continual unnecessary reiteration of the same words, phrases, or ideas

battologist noun; battological adjective

Origin:
1595–1605; from Gk. battologia "a speaking stammeringly," from battos "stammerer," of imitative origin, + -logia

Sentence Examples:
• The frequent repetition, therefore, of these, is as excusable as frequent preaching; and they that nauseate it as loathsome battology, do love novelty better than verity, and playing with words to please the fancy, rather than closing with Christ to save the soul. -Select practical writings of Richard Baxter

• Away then with all silly theorems concerning population, the battology of statistics, with many words making nothing understood. -The Quarterly review, 1818

• Therefore, although I shewed that he had done that from malice, I could not take away from him every pretext for attacking us. It was my duty to give satisfaction on the score of battologies. But by no means have I admitted that there was here any useless battology, or mere contending about words. I confessed, however, that I would not have spoken unless I had been forced by his wickedness to do so. -Letters of John Calvin

The Storyline
Still in a foul mood, Anna returned to her office to finish her inventory reports shooting her assistant a look to stave off another battology regarding the schedule.

Sources: Wordnik, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

fissiparous

fis•sip•ar•ous (fi-SIP-er-uhs)  adj

Definition:
1. tending to break up into parts or break away from a main body; factious
2. reproducing by biological fission
3. causing division or fragmenting something

fissiparousness noun;  fissiparously adverb

Origin:
1874; Latin fissus, past participle of findere + English -parous

Related:
Synonyms: bivious
Related Words: fission, fissure, fissile

Sentence Examples:
• In the present educational chaos, school sixth forms are quite bewilderingly fissiparous.  Every one is a "specialist" of some sort or other; specialism means "private work," and if private work enables the gifted few to escape into self-education from the hampering attentions of the form master, it gives the rest a terrible training in the habits of time-wasting and evasion. -The School and the World. Victor Gollancz and David Somervell

• The next point we have to observe is, that in all cases where a cell or a Protozoön multiplies by way of fissiparous division, the process begins in the nucleus. -Darwin, and After Darwin, George John Romanes

• Today Protestant leaders are concerned about their fissiparous tendencies. Latin America already has more than 200 religious organizations, and the Brazilian Methodists are facing the threat of a schism. -Protestants: Conversion in Latin America, Time, 1965

The Storyline
Most workplaces tend to be fissiparous, with various cliques and factions forming. This one was not. The workforce was a unified force. Now only to put that to good end.

Sources: Wordnik, Merriam-Webster

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

nocuous

noc•u•ous (NOK-yoo-uhs)  adj

Definition:
likely to cause damage or injury; harmful; noxious

nocuousness noun; nocuously adverb

Origin:
1635; from L. nocuus, from nocere from *nok-s-, suffixed form of PIE base *nek- "death"

Related:
Synonyms: noxious, dangerous, deadly, harmful, injurious, malignant, poisonous, damaging
Antonyms: innocuous
Related Words: noxious, innocent, nuisance

Sentence Examples:
• "Don't care for't. Take back your choo, I'll keep me honor,--your plug, I mean, sonny. A gentleman of my eminence, sir, a natural-born navigator on the high seas of social life,--are you on, me bye?--a gentleman, I repeat, sir, whose canoe the mutations of all that is human have chucked on this here dry, thrice damned dry latitude, sir, this nocuous plague-spot of civilization,--say, kid, what t' hell am I talkin' about?Damn if I ain't clean forgot." -Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist, Alexander Berkman

• But it is likely that Joyce Kilmer would only have succeeded in inadvertently bringing the religious singer once more into disrepute. There is perhaps nothing nocuous in his creed, as he expressed it in a formal interview: "I hope ... poetry ... is reflecting faith ... in God and His Son and the Holy Ghost." -The Poet's Poet, Elizabeth Atkins

• The media plays a particularly nocuous role in the Americans' willful ignorance about energy policy. I really hope this reporter will make this matter a major point of his career and report more on our unrealistic energy policy. -Time, 2010

The Storyline
... however nocuous it was to their virtual social lives.

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

rumbustious

rum•bus•tious (ruhm-BUHS-chuhs)  n

Definition:
uncontrollably exuberant; unruly; rambunctious

rumbustiousness noun;  rumbustiously adverb

Origin:
1778; probably alteration of robustious (influenced by rambunctious)

Related:
Synonyms: boisterous, noisy, raucous, rough, rowdy, rude, termagant, tumultuous, turbulent, unruly


Sentence Examples:
• I had noticed that the walls, both of the bar and of the bar-parlour, were plentifully hung with paintings of ships; ships becalmed, ships in full sail, ships under bare spars; all with painful blue skies over them, and very even-waved seas beneath; and ships in storms, with torn sails, pursued by rumbustious piles of sooty cloud, and pelted with lengths of scarlet lightning. -The Hole in the Wall, Arthur Morrison

• The fairy tales are very true. The rumbustious ogre has a hitherto undescribed, but quite imaginable, gap-toothed, beetle-browed ogress of a wife. Why he married her has never been told. -Jaffery, William J. Locke

• It is easier to convert most people to the need for allowing their hildren to run physical risks than moral ones.  I can remember a relative of mine who, when I was a small child, unused to horses and very much afraid of them, insisted on putting me on a rather rumbustious pony with little spurs on my heels (knowing that in my agitation I would use them unconsciously), and being enormously amused at my terrors.  Yet when that same lady discovered that I had found a copy of The Arabian Nights and was devouring it with avidity, she was horrified, and hid it away from me lest it should break my soul as the pony might have broken my neck.  - A Treatise on Parents and Children, George Bernard Shaw

The Storyline
And while not the rumbustious flurry of activity she had briefly fantasized, the phones were put away and people did pick up their assigned labors.

Sources: Free Dictionary

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

diktat

dik•tat (dik-TAHT)  n

Definition:
1. a harsh, unilaterally imposed settlement with a defeated party
2. an authoritative or dogmatic statement or decree


Origin:
1933; German Diktat, "something dictated", from New Latin dictatum, from Latin, neuter of dictatus, past participle of dictare "to dictate"

Related:
Synonyms: decree, edict, directive, fiat, rescript, ruling
Related Words: dictation, indict, dictator, ditty

Sentence Examples:
• Washington's post-cold war ability to throw its weight around often smacks of intimidation and diktat to the proud Gauls. France's response, along with periodic crowings about its own importance, has been to unite Europe as a counterweight to U.S. domination. -Why Can't France and the US be Friends?, Time, Monday, Jan. 27, 1997

• Rabin's stern Diktat was not unprecedented; former Minister Eban was prohibited from publishing his diplomatic memoirs of the Six-Day War. - Israel: Tales of Henry, Told Out of School, Time, 1975

• Belgium's Senate passed a unanimous resolution condemning French intransigence and demanding that talks with Britain be resumed. "A diktat" -roared Belgian Foreign Minister Paul-Henri Spaak of De Gaulle's presumption to act as all Europe's spokesman. -Europe: A Problem of Personality
Time, 1963

The Storyline
Making sure there were no customers in the store, she issued forth her diktat, "Anyone not back to work in the next five minutes need not come back to work at all!"

Sources: Free Dictionary, Merriam-Webster

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

integument

in•teg•u•ment (in-TEG-yuh-muhnt)  n

Definition:
1. a natural covering, as a skin, shell, or rind
2. any covering, coating, enclosure

Origin:
1611; from L. integumentem "a covering," from in- "in, upon" + tegere "to cover"

Related:
Synonyms: covering, coat, envelope, hide, pelt, skin, tegument
Related Words: from tegere " to cover": stegosaurus, detect, protect

Sentence Examples:
• The parent whose sole answer to criticism or remonstrance is "I have a right to do what I like with my own child!" is the only impossible parent. His moral integument is too thick to be pierced with any shaft however keen. To him we can only say as Jacques did to Orlando, "God be with you; let's meet as little as we can." - Children's Rights and Others, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Nora Smith

• He is encased in a protective shell of ignorance and insensibility which keeps him from being exhausted and confused by this too complicated world; but that integument blinds him at the same time to many of his nearest and highest interests. -Reason in Common Sense, George Santayana

• We don garment after garment, as if we grew like exogenous plants by addition without. Our outside and often thin and fanciful clothes are our epidermis, or false skin, which partakes not of our life, and may be stripped off here and there without fatal injury; our thicker garments, constantly worn, are our cellular integument, or cortex; but our shirts are our liber, or true bark, which cannot be removed without girdling and so destroying the man. -Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau

The Storyline
Her integument of self-composure finally punctured.

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day