Sun Returning

Tomorrow, December 21st, at 12:47 p.m. EST, the yearly oscillation of the Earth will begin its slow roll back on its axis to bring the northern hemisphere to face Sol again, a progress which will take six months, give or take an hour or two, for completion. The daylight hours tomorrow will be shorter, and the nighttime hours longer, than at any time in the past twelve months.

Like a gigantic rock and earth and water gyroscope, the turning earth rocks back and forth in its slow year journey around the Sun, bringing changing seasons to the portions of the north and south hemispheres between the two poles and the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, respectively. The fat midsection of Terra gets enough sunlight all year round to confine its seasons to wet and dry, save for the more mountainous regions therein.

Another quarter change of inclination on its axis will bring the Earth more or less upright, with sunlight perpindicular to the axis, somewhere around March 20th. The Vernal Equinox will mark the halfway point to the Summer Solstice. And so it goes, year after year, season after season, rotation after rotation. This will be my 66th Winter Solstice, though my infant memories are lost to my recall. To paraphrase Old A. E., sixty-six years are little room to watch the Sun turn back its face to us.

Word of the Day

… courtesy of Merriam Webster, with slight modifications by me:

The Word of the Day for December 20, 2009 is:
groundling • \GROUND-ling\ • noun

1 a : a spectator who stood in the pit of an Elizabethan theater* b : a person of unsophisticated taste
2 : one that lives or works on or near the ground

Felix’s Example Sentence:

Insatiable for reality television and lurid gossip, modern groundlings carry on the tradition of the Elizabethan bottom rung audiences.

Did you know?

In Elizabethan times, play-going audiences were a diverse bunch. In the upper gallery, the wealthier patrons fanned themselves and looked with disdain at those who could only afford the penny admission to the pit below. Pit spectators had to sit or stand in close proximity on the bare floor, exposed to the sweltering sun or the dampening rain. At times, they behaved less than decorously, and they reportedly emitted a less than pleasant odor. The pit was also called the "ground"; those in it were "groundlings." Today, we use "groundlings" to refer not only to the less than couth among us, but also (often with some facetiousness) to ordinary Janes or Joes.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Word of the Day

… courtesy of Merriam Webster, with slight modifications by me:

The Word of the Day for December 14, 2009 is:
depredate • \DEP-ruh-dayt\ • verb

*1 : to lay waste : plunder, ravage

2 : to engage in plunder

Felix’s Example Sentence:

Over the past twenty years, increasing freedom from regulation allowed many financial institutions to depredate the banking and mortgage systems, leading to near collapse of the larger economy.

Did you know?

"Depredate" derives primarily from the Latin verb "praedari," meaning "to plunder," an ancestor to our words "predator" and "prey." First appearing in English in the 17th century, the word most commonly appears in contexts relating to nature and ecology, where it is often used to describe the methodical, almost automatic destruction of life. That’s how the film critic Stanley Kauffman, for example, summarized the plot of the famous horror movie Jaws (1975): “A killer shark depredates the beach of an island summer resort. Several people are killed. Finally, the shark is killed. That’s the story.”

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Word of the Day

… courtesy of Merriam Webster, with slight modifications by me:

The Word of the Day for December 13, 2009 is:
indefeasible • \in-dih-FEE-zuh-bul\ • adjective

: not capable of being annulled or voided or undone

Felix’s Example Sentence:

Words of such venom and hurt that they were indefeasible wrecked the young marriage.

Did you know?

We acquired “indefeasible” in the mid-16th century by combining the English prefix “in-” (“not”) with “defeasible,” a word borrowed a century earlier from Anglo-French. “Defeasible” itself can be traced to an Old French verb meaning “to undo” or “to destroy.” It’s no surprise, then, that something indefeasible is essentially “un-undoable” or “indestructible.” Another member of this family of words is “feasible,” meaning “capable of being done or carried out.” Ultimately, all three — “indefeasible,” “defeasible,” and “feasible” — can be traced back to the Latin verb “facere,” meaning “to do.”

Word of the Day

… courtesy of Merriam Webster, with slight modifications by me:

The Word of the Day for December 12, 2009 is:
receipt • \rih-SEET\ • noun

1 : recipe

*2 : the act or process of receiving

3 : something received — usually used in plural

4 : a writing acknowledging the receiving of goods or money

Felix’s Example Sentence:

The receipt of her Amazon order filled the woman with excitement and eagerness to use her new camera.

Did you know?

These days it may seem odd to speak of “grandma’s cookie receipt,” but at one time the only meaning of “receipt” was “recipe.” The first recorded use of “receipt” is a reference to a medicinal preparation in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (c. 1386). “Recipe” didn’t arrive until the 1500s, and it was also first used to describe medicine. Both words began to be applied to cooking only in the 18th century, after which “recipe” slowly became the preferred word. “Receipt” acquired its currently more familiar sense of “a written statement saying that money or goods have been received” in the 17th century. Both “receipt” and “recipe” are thought to be ultimately derived from Latin “recipere” (“to receive”), making them probable relatives as well as synonyms.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Word of the Day

… courtesy of Merriam Webster, with slight modifications by me:

The Word of the Day for December 11, 2009 is:
namby-pamby • \nam-bee-PAM-bee\ • adjective

1 : lacking in character or substance : insipid

*2 : weak, indecisive

Felix’s Example Sentence:

Swagger and macho posturing in U.S. politics leads many to label moderates as namby-pamby and weak.

Did you know?

Eighteenth-century poets Alexander Pope and Henry Carey didn’t think much of their contemporary Ambrose Philips. His sentimental, singsong verses were too childish and simple for their palates. In 1726, Carey came up with the rhyming nickname “Namby-Pamby” (playing on “Ambrose”) to parody Philips: “Namby-Pamby’s doubly mild / Once a man and twice a child . . . / Now he pumps his little wits / All by little tiny bits.” In 1733, Pope borrowed the nickname to take his own satirical jab at Philips in the poem “The Dunciad.” Before long, “namby-pamby” was being applied to any piece of writing that was insipidly precious, simple, or sentimental, and later to anyone considered pathetically weak or indecisive.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Word of the Day

… courtesy of Merriam Webster, with slight modifications by me:

The Word of the Day for December 10, 2009 is:
provender • \PRAH-vun-der\ • noun

1 : dry food for domestic animals : feed

*2 : food, victuals

Felix’s Example Sentence:

Watching the repeat customers milling about the buffet tables at all-you-can-eat establishments reminds me of cattle trampling each other over barnyard provender.

Did you know?

When English speakers first chewed on the word “provender” around 1300, it referred to a stipend that a clergyman received from his cathedral or collegiate church, something also known as a “prebend.” A mere 25 years later, though, the word’s current meanings had developed. These days you’re most likely to encounter “provender” in articles written by food and travel writers. A few such writers confuse “provender” with “purveyor,” meaning “a person or business that sells or provides something,” but most of them keep the words straight, as Deidre Schipani does in this quote: “The kitchen remains true to its local roots. Buying from island farmers, fisherman, shrimpers, butchers and small local artisans keeps the provender and purveyors in alignment.” (The Post and Courier, September 3, 2009)

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Word of the Day

… courtesy of Merriam Webster, with slight modifications by me:

The Word of the Day for November 28, 2009 is:
congruous • \KAHNG-groo-us\ • adjective

1 *a : being in agreement, harmony, or correspondence
b : conforming to the circumstances or requirements of a situation : appropriate

2 : marked or enhanced by harmonious agreement among constituent elements

Felix’s Example Sentence:

A secure sense of proportion in dealing with other folk is congruous with enjoyment of their company and conversation.

Did you know?

“Congruous” has been used in English since at least 1599, when it appeared in the following description: “All the parts of his bodie were in good proportion, and congruous as a man could wish.” It has remained more or less true to its Latin roots: it is derived from Latin “congruus,” an adjective that comes from the verb “congruere,” which means “to come together” or “to agree.” Another familiar “congruere” descendant in English is “congruent,” which first appeared at least a century earlier with the same meaning as “congruous.” We also acquired “congrue,” a verb meaning “to be in harmony” or “to agree,” from “congruere,” but it has since become obsolete.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

… courtesy of Merriam Webster, with slight modifications by me:

The Word of the Day for November 29, 2009 is:
imbroglio • \im-BROHL-yoh\ • noun

1 : a confused mass

2 a : a complicated situation
b : a painful or embarrassing misunderstanding
* c : a violent or bitter altercation : embroilment

Felix’s Example Sentence:

More than a few political discussions lately have devolved into imbroglios of unseemly rage.

Did you know?

“Imbroglio” and “embroilment” are more than just synonyms; they’re also linked through etymology. Both descend from the Middle French verb “embrouiller” (same meaning as “embroil”), from the prefix “em-,” meaning “thoroughly,” plus “brouiller,” meaning “to mix” or “to confuse.” (“Brouiller” is itself a descendant of an Old French word for broth.) Early in the 17th century, English speakers began using “embroil,” a direct adaptation of “embrouiller.” Our noun “embroilment,” which also entered the language in the early 17th century, comes from the same source. Meanwhile, the Italians were using their own alteration of “embrouiller” : “imbrogliare,” meaning “to entangle.” In the mid-18th century, English speakers embraced the Italian noun “imbroglio” as well.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Word of the Day

… courtesy of Merriam Webster, with slight modifications by me:

The Word of the Day for November 27, 2009 is:
inoculate • \ih-NAHK-yuh-layt\ • verb

1 a : to introduce a microorganism into
b : to introduce (as a microorganism) into a suitable situation for growth
* c : to introduce immunologically active material (as an antibody or antigen) into especially in order to treat or prevent a disease

2 : to introduce something into the mind of

3 : to protect as if by inoculation

Felix’s Example Sentence:

If it were possible to inoculate the general public against stupidity, the advertising industry would wither away overnight.

Did you know?

If you think you see a connection between “inoculate” and “ocular” (“of or relating to the eye”), you are not mistaken — both words look back to “oculus,” the Latin word for “eye.” But what does the eye have to do with inoculation? Our answer lies in the original use in English of “inoculate” in Middle English: “to insert a bud in a plant.” Latin “oculus” was sometimes applied to things that were seen to resemble eyes, and one such thing was the bud of a plant. “Inoculate” was later applied to other forms of engrafting or implanting, including the introduction of vaccines as a preventative against disease.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Word of the Day

… courtesy of Merriam Webster, with slight modifications by me:

The Word of the Day for November 24, 2009 is:
macédoine • \mass-uh-DWAHN\ • noun

*1 : a confused mixture : medley

2 : a mixture of fruits or vegetables served as a salad or cocktail or in a jellied dessert or used in a sauce or as a garnish

Felix’s Example Sentence:

On nights during business trips away by my father, our mother would come up with dinners that were a veritable macédoine of tastes and textures, which we later learned to call ‘leftovers.’

Did you know?

“Macédoine” is the French name for Macedonia, a region on the Balkan Peninsula that is now part of Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, and Bulgaria. Historically, this area has been home to a richly varied population encompassing many ethnic groups. Etymologists believe that the cultural heterogeneity of the region may have inspired people to use its name as a generic term for any kind of wildly jumbled mixture. English speakers borrowed “macédoine” early in the 19th century. The word took on its more specific “salad” sense later in the century.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

… courtesy of Merriam Webster, with slight modifications by me:

The Word of the Day for November 25, 2009 is:
temerarious • \tem-uh-RAIR-ee-us\ • adjective

: marked by temerity : rashly or presumptuously daring

Felix’ Example Sentence:

Facing a room of hostile news persons, the temerarious politica chirped away as though speaking to her admirers.

Did you know?

If you have guessed that “temerarious” may be related to the somewhat more common word “temerity,” you are correct. “Temerarious” was borrowed into English in the early 16th century from Latin “temerarius,” which in turn derives from Latin “temere,” meaning “blindly” or” recklessly.” “Temerity,” which arrived in English over a century earlier, also derives from “temere”; another descendant is the rare word “intemerate” (meaning “pure” or “undefiled”). “Temere” itself is akin to Old High German “demar,” Latin “tenebrae,” and Sanskrit “tamas,” all of which have associations with darkness.

… courtesy of Merriam Webster, with slight modifications by me:

The Word of the Day for November 26, 2009 is:
scrumptious • \SKRUMP-shus\ • adjective

: delightful, excellent; especially : delicious

Felix’s Example Sentence:

Having a caterer for a friend is a fine thing, for scrumptious food comes in handy when you are having an event involving feeding folks.

Did you know?

First appearing in English in 1830, “scrumptious” is a mouth-watering word that is used to describe what is delightful and delectable. It probably originated as an alteration of “sumptuous,” and it carries the elegant and wonderful connotations of its parent. (“Sumptuous” derives via Middle English from the Latin verb “sumere,” meaning “to take or spend.”) British author Roald Dahl had some fun with “scrumptious,” and created a delightful coinage, when he inserted the infix “-diddly-” into the word to make “scrumdiddlyumptious,” the word that chocolate magnate Willy Wonka uses to name his best-selling treats in his novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964).