New Game: What's the Word?

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - DYNAMISM

pronunciation: [DY-nə-miz-əm]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Greek, mid-19th century

 

meaning:

1. The quality of being characterized by vigorous activity and progress.

2. (Philosophy) The theory that phenomena of matter or mind are due to the action of forces rather than to motion or matter.

 

Example:

"The dynamism of the auto industry brought great prosperity to Detroit in the early 20th century." 
"The professor became known primarily for his writings on the philosophy of dynamism."

 

About Dynamism

In Greek, “dunamis” means power, but English actually borrowed dynamism from the French word “dynamisme.” In French it means having vitality and energy, and the English usage closely follows. You can describe activity and progress as having dynamism, but you might also describe a person with a vigorously positive attitude as having dynamism.

 

Did you know?

Dynamism is a philosophy first expressed in the 17th century by Gottfried Leibniz. His theories on the action of forces on matter and mind went against previous theories from other scientists and opened up new areas of experimentations in physics. Even if you’re not a student of his philosophies, just remember, dynamism = motion.

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - REGENT

pronunciation: [REE-jənt]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Latin, 15th century

 

meaning:

1. A person appointed to administer a country because the monarch is a minor or is absent or incapacitated.

2. A member of the governing body of a university or other academic institution.

 

Example:

"Until the young king reached his 18th birthday, his cousin was appointed regent."
"As a regent of the university, she wanted to direct the endowment to grant more scholarships to low-income students."

 

About Regent

The Latin word “regent” means ruling, which comes from the verb “regere.” The spelling and meaning are easy enough that they have been retained in English. A regent is a leader who rules when a monarch is unable to, and in North America the word has been borrowed to describe the people who govern a university.

 

Did you know?

Flip through European history books and you’ll find details of regents serving when a monarch could not — George IV of Great Britain, Phillippe II of France. But as the monarchies have died out, so have regents. In 2020, only one country has an active regency in Alois, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein.

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - NEBULA

pronunciation: [NEB-yə-lə]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Latin, mid-17th century

 

meaning:

1. A cloud of gas and dust in outer space, visible in the night sky either as an indistinct bright patch or as a dark silhouette against other luminous matter.

2. (in general use) any indistinct bright area in the night sky, for example, a distant galaxy.

 

Example:

"On a clear night you might be able to see a nebula without the help of a telescope." 
"Long before modern science, astronomers have been fascinated by the comets, nebulas, and stars in the night sky."

 

About Nebula

Before high-powered space telescopes were passing back images of far-away galaxies, astronomers were looking at the bodies visible in the night sky. They gave the word nebula to describe the bright clouds in the sky. We now know that these are patches of gas and dust, and possibly sites of future exploration.

 

Did you know?

In addition to its astronomical usage, nebula is a medical term. The Latin word literally means “mist.” Your ophthalmologist, or eye doctor, might diagnose a nebula — a clouded spot on the cornea causing defective vision.

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - MULTIVERSE

pronunciation: [məl-tee-vərs]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: English, 1960s

 

meaning:

1. An infinite realm of being or potential being of which the universe is regarded as a part or instance.

 

Example:

"My favorite sci-fi series explores the different realities possible in a multiverse."
"The physics department seems to be split into those who believe in a multiverse theory, and those who do not."

 

About Multiverse

If you’re a physicist, a comic book writer, psychologist, or theologian, you will probably be familiar with a multiverse. This philosophy that there are multiple, or even infinite, states of being in the universe has long been a topic for debate.

 

Did you know?

Fans of “The Big Bang Theory” are probably familiar with one example of a multiverse: Schrödinger's cat. On the TV show, Sheldon explained the hypothetical situation where a cat is inside a box, and, until you open the box, the cat could be alive or dead. There are two potential universes in that scenario, which is also the many-worlds interpretation of a multiverse.

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - CAVALCADE

pronunciation: [ka-vəl-KAYD]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Latin, late 16th century

 

meaning:

1. A formal procession of people walking, on horseback, or riding in vehicles.

 

Example:

"A cavalcade of horses led the Founder’s Day parade every year." 
"The members of the hot rod club formed a cavalcade for a weekly Saturday drive."

 

About Cavalcade

This word for a formal procession (usually on horseback, but could also be by foot or motor vehicle), has taken quite a journey of its own. English borrowed cavalcade from French, but in Italian it’s “cavalcata,” which comes from the verb “cavalcare,” or to ride. And like most Romance language words, it all traces back to Latin.

 

Did you know?

Have you heard of a caballero? This Spanish word means gentleman, but it was adopted in the Southwestern United States to describe a horseman. It makes sense then that it shares a root word with cavalcade. The Latin word “caballus” means horse.

Edited May 24, 2020 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - PROBOSCIS

pronunciation: [prə-BAH-skəs]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Greek, early 17th century

 

meaning:

1. The nose of a mammal, especially when it is long and mobile such as the trunk of an elephant or the snout of a tapir.

2. (in many insects) an elongated sucking mouthpart that is typically tubular and flexible.

 

Example:

"At the zoo I had the chance to watch an anteater use its proboscis to stir up the dirt and eat insects." 
"The garden was planted with flowers known to have pollen to attract bees and other insects with a proboscis."

 

About Proboscis

You’ll recognize the long snout called a proboscis on animals such as the elephant, tapir, and anteater, but they’re also in the insect world. On a lepidoptera, or butterfly, the proboscis is also called a haustellum, and it’s used to reach down deep into flowers for pollen and nectar.

 

Did you know?

Many mammals have a nose or snout that could be called a proboscis, but one species of monkey earned special designation. The proboscis monkey is endemic to Borneo, and is one of the largest species of Asian monkeys. Females and babies have smaller, pointier proboscises, while the males have a more pronounced and bulbous feature.

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - BLITHESOME

pronunciation: [BLITH-səm]

 

Part of speech: adjective

Origin: Old English, 17th century

 

meaning:

1. (of a person) having a cheerful disposition.

2. Filled with, marked by, or causing pleasure.

 

Example:

"Waking up to sunny spring weather put me in a blithesome mood." 
"The blithesome shouts from the playground were welcome background noise."

 

About Blithesome

Blithe is a Germanic word with origins related to bliss, but it’s not always carefree. Blithe can mean happy, or it can also mean indifferent to the point of callousness. As for blithesome, it only borrows the cheerful sense of the word. We hope you’re feeling blithesome today.

 

Did you know?

When “some” is added as a suffix to nouns, adjectives, and sometimes verbs, it creates a new adjective that means tending to or causing. Troublesome: Causing trouble. Adventuresome: Tending toward adventure. Blithesome: Gotta know the meaning of blithe. Hint: it will put a smile on your face.

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - CYBERNETICS

pronunciation: [si-bər-NED-iks]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin:Greek, 1940s

 

meaning:

1. The science of communications and automatic control systems in both machines and living things.

 

Example:

"Scientists who study cybernetics are fascinated by the connections between computers and the human brain." 
"Sci-fi TV shows have long imagined a world where cybernetics is far more advanced than it is in real life."

 

About Cybernectics

This futuristic word has ancient language roots. The Greek word “kubernētēs” means to steer — adopted to discuss how the human brain might steer or communicate with computers, and vice versa. It seems like the stuff of sci-fi, but the field has been studied by scientists and mathematicians since the 1940s.

 

Did you know?

Mathematician Alan Turing was one of the early promoters of cybernetics as a field of study. As one of the earliest computer scientists, he had a hypothesis that the human brain was essentially a digital computing machine. The Turing test, proposed in 1950, helped evaluate whether an artificial computer is thinking.

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - MORPHOLOGY

pronunciation: [mor-FAH-lə-jee]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Greek, mid-19th century

 

meaning:

1. The study of the forms of things.

2. The study of the forms of words, in particular inflected forms.

 

Example:

"The biologists were particularly concerned with the changes in morphology between species." 
"Learning a foreign language will likely help you understand the morphology of your native language better."

 

About Morphology

What do biologists and linguists have in common? No punchline here, but they both study morphology, or the shape of things. A biologist would be interested in how the shape of a certain plant’s leaves or how the wing structure of bees have changed over time. The linguist will study morphemes, or the parts of words and how they combine to form words, sentences, and language.

 

Did you know?

Remember the character Morpheus from “The Matrix”? Turns out that name had a hidden meaning. In Greek, “morphē” means form — the Greek god Morpheus was known for creating and shaping dreams, as well as waking people from illusions. Morphology doesn’t have anything to do with sleep, but it does concern the forms and shapes of things in reality.

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - NONPAREIL

pronunciation: [nahn-pə-REL]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: French, early 16th century

 

meaning:

1. An unrivaled or matchless person or thing.

2. A flat round candy made of chocolate covered with white sugar sprinkles.

 

Example:

"In my opinion, 'The Prisoner of Azkaban' is the nonpareil of the Harry Potter series." 
"I always indulge in a box of nonpareils when I go to the movies."

 

About Nonpareil

The Latin breakdown of this word is pretty simple. “Non” means not, and “pareil” is equal. But the unequal description means that the nonpareil is leaps and bounds better; it’s so good that there can be no equal.

 

Did you know?

We agree that the nonpareil is quite unparalleled when it comes to chocolate treats, and you might love them even more when you find out how easy they are to make. Melt some bittersweet chocolate and mix it with a dab of vegetable shortening. Then spoon coin-sized circles of chocolate onto a baking sheet. Top with sprinkles, then cool until hard. Now you have your very own stash of nonpareils.

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - POLYPHONY

pronunciation: [pə-LIF-ə-nee]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Greek, early 19th century

 

meaning:

1. The style of simultaneously combining a number of parts, each forming an individual melody and harmonizing with each other.

2. (on an electronic keyboard or synthesizer) the number of notes or voices that can be played simultaneously without loss.

 

Example:

"The a cappella choir produced an amazing display of polyphony." 
"I upgraded my keyboard to be able to play with a higher level of polyphony."

 

About Polyphony

The most recognizable examples of polyphony are from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Think of Gregorian chants with many voices coming together as one. The term has more modern uses with electric instruments capable of producing multiple sounds and melodies at the same time. You could buy a digital piano that allows you to produce music with many different instruments and melodies, all by yourself.

 

Did you know?

Your favorite singer-songwriter croons tunes in monophony (with one voice). The rock band uses homophony to blast out anthems with one dominant voice accompanied by back-up voices or instruments. But if you have polyphony, there are multiple melodies coming together to form a harmony. The Greek origins of this word are pretty straightforward: “poly” means many and “phone” means sound.

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - DECLIVITY

pronunciation: [də-KLIV-ə-dee]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Latin, early 17th century

 

meaning:

1. A downward slope.

 

Example:

"The landscape architect designed the garden to complement the natural declivity." 
"There was no longer a creek, but the bridge still spanned over a large declivity. "

 

About Declivity

Does your friend Clive know his name means “slope”? Thanks to this Latin root, declivity means a downward slope. But if you’re walking the opposite direction, acclivity means an upward slope. Coming or going, it’s all a matter of perspective.

 

Did you know?

Have you ever described someone as having a proclivity for hard work? Proclivity and declivity share the same Latin root, “clivus,” meaning slope. And technically the prefixes “pro” and “de” both mean down, but the usages of each word are different. Proclivity is to have a tendency toward, and declivity means a physical downward slope.

[DarkRavie]

 

What's the Word? - AXIOMATIC

pronunciation: [ak-see-ə-MAD-ik]

 

Part of speech: adjective

Origin: Greek, late 18th century

 

meaning:

1. Self-evident or unquestionable.

2. (Mathematics) Relating to or containing axioms.

 

Example:

"You might think the solution is axiomatic, but I need more evidence." 
"The suggestion to extend the deadline was axiomatic, and the vote was unanimous."

 

About Axiomatic

“We hold these truths to be axiomatic.” Doesn’t have quite the same ring, does it? Axiomatic means self-evident, or so obvious that no evidence is needed. The Founding Fathers found life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to be axiomatic, but it still needed to be spelled out in the Declaration of Independence.

 

Did you know?

We’re not teaching math here, but axiomatic is a helpful word to learn. Much of mathematical theory is built upon axioms. An axiom is a statement that is accepted to be true — a starting point. For example, Euclidean geometry starts with five axioms, and all theorems come from these simple axiomatic rules.

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - ENGRAM

pronunciation: [EN-gram]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Greek, early 20th century

 

meaning:

1. A hypothetical permanent change in the brain accounting for the existence of memory; a memory trace.

 

Example:

"The grant money was dedicated to more study on how memories are encoded on an engram." 
"You may remember your dreams as an engram, or just a memory trace."

 

About Engram

In Greek, “en” means within and “gramma” means a letter or a record. So engram means that something is recorded within, and that made sense to the German researcher Richard Semon when he was studying the formation of memory in the early 20th century. He proposed a term, engram, to describe how a memory could be encoded upon the brain and retrieved later.

 

Did you know?

Close your eyes. Try to remember your last birthday. Can you remember the taste of the cake and the colors of your wrapped presents? There’s a theory that memories are encoded through physical changes in your neurons, and these changes are called engrams. That almost-tangible sense memory that comes along when you bring up thoughts of a moment in the past is thanks to engrams.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - ZWIEBACK

pronunciation: [ZWEE-bak]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: German, mid-19th century

 

meaning:

1. A rusk or cracker made by baking a small loaf and then toasting slices until they are dry and crisp.

 

Example:

"When I'm sick I always want to eat my mom's tomato soup with a side of zwieback."
"The waiter served a basket of zwieback before dropping off the salads."

 

About Engram

If you have an upset stomach, or a teething toddler, you probably have zwieback in the pantry. In German, "zwie" means twice and "back" means bake — which is a pretty literal description of this dry toast. Slices of bread are crisped up with a second baking.

 

Did you know?

In Germany it's "zwieback." In the U.S. you might find it as rusk or melba toast. In French it's "biscotte," and in Italian it's "fette biscottate." Order "prepečenec" in Slovene, and "dvopek" in Croatian.

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - EXTRANET

pronunciation: [EKS-trə-net]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: English, 1990s

 

meaning:

1. An intranet that can be partially accessed by authorized outside users, enabling businesses to exchange information over the Internet securely.

 

Example:

"You'll need to send an email to IT to ask for access to the extranet." 
"The staff is able to work remotely as long as they have their computer and access to the company extranet."

 

About Extranet

Here's one of those tech terms that would have sounded like a foreign language 100, even 50, years ago. Combine net, an abbreviation for internet, with extra, meaning outside or beyond, and you have extranet. It's a private network with access given to specific outside users.

 

Did you know?

You need internet to be able to access the extranet. But if you're logged onto the intranet, then you don't need the extranet. Make sense? Internet is what you need to get online. But your work might have a private intranet with shared files and programs. The extranet is similar, but outside users can also get permission to use and share the information.

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - KAFFEEKLATSCH

pronunciation: [KAH-feh-klach]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: German, late 19th century

 

meaning:

1. An informal social gathering at which coffee is served.

2. Talking or gossip at an informal gathering where coffee is served.

 

Example:

"The highlight of the neighborhood meetings was the kaffeklatsch that always followed." 
"My grandmother loved nothing more than a good kaffeklatsch with her friends."

 

About Kaffeeklatsch

Here’s another loanword from German — it translates literally to coffee gossip. Kaffeeklatsch can refer to any social gathering with coffee, or it can describe the actual gossip that tends to occur. Either way, pull up a chair and stay a while.

 

Did you know?

The “Coffee Talk” sketch on "Saturday Night Live" in the early 1990s is a perfect example of a kaffeeklatsch. Mike Meyers, playing a stereotypical New York woman, was joined by Madonna and Roseanne Barr for coffee and gossip. As Linda Richman, she would sometimes get “all verklempt” and encourage guests to “talk amongst yourselves.”

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - BEASTIE

pronunciation: [BEE-stee]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Scottish, early 18th century

 

meaning:

1. (humorous) An animal, insect, or germ.

2. (informal) A vehicle or device of a particular kind.

 

Example:

"Watch out for beasties trying to invade your picnic!" 
"I hate to carry my big camera, so I bring this little beastie in my purse."

 

About Beastie

You’re not going to hear this word from a veterinarian, or see it in a biology textbook, but you can use beastie to refer to any kind of creature, mythical or real. It has Scottish roots, and you might hear it used as “wee beastie,” with a jovial or even exasperated tone.

 

Did you know?

From Nessie to unicorns, Scotland is overrun with beasties. The unicorn is an officially sanctioned national animal beastie and has been used as a symbol on the Scottish royal coat of arms since the 12th century. As for Nessie, countless witnesses claim to have seen the long and thin reptile creature rising from Loch Ness, but for now, she remains folklore.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - EXHORTATION

pronunciation: [EKS-or-tay-shən]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Latin, 15th century

 

meaning:

1. An address or communication emphatically urging someone to do something.

 

Example:

"A stern exhortation to 'drop it!' usually gets my dog's attention." 
"When the exhortation was paired with three short claps the kids knew that was the signal recess was over."

 

About Exhortation

In Latin, the prefix “ex-” means thoroughly and “hortari” means to encourage. So as a verb, to exhort means to quite thoroughly encourage someone to do something. That command turns into the noun, exhortation. Disobey at your own risk.

 

Did you know?

Exhortation is commonly confused with extortion, but besides having an extra syllable, exhortation is much more pleasant. With an exhortation there’s a plea, a request, an encouragement. You want to help someone who is giving you an exhortation — there’s no bribery involved.

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word? - DRAMEDY

pronunciation: [DRAH-mə-dee]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: English, early 20th century

 

meaning:

1. A movie, play, or broadcast program that combines elements of drama and comedy.

 

Example:

"Netflix knows my tastes well and always suggests the latest dramedy." 
"She is known for her comedic skills, but her last project was more of a dramedy."

 

About Dramedy

Turn on your TV and you can find sitcoms and crime dramas. You know what you’re going to get. But then there are shows that blend genres. In a dramedy, you might have humorous actors playing out serious situations — or absurd realities with important consequences. However you want to blend your comedy and drama, it’s good entertainment.

 

Did you know?

While the word “dramedy” is a 20th-century creation, the concept of a comedy-drama hybrid is nothing new. In literature, Greek philosopher Aristotle brought up the idea of a tragedy with a dual ending. Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and “The Merchant of Venice” could be called tragicomedy, and more modern playwrights, such as Samuel Beckett and Tom Stoppard, have specialized in the genre.