A Word A Day... Quotes and Other stuff...

prince charming

PRONUNCIATION:

(prins CHAR-ming)



MEANING:

noun: A suitor who fulfills the expectations of his beloved.



ETYMOLOGY:

After Prince Charming, the fairy-tale hero of many stories, such as Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. Earliest documented use: 1850.



USAGE:

“Judith reluctantly attends a cocktail party where she meets Howard Rose, a charismatic lawyer ... But Judith will come to realize Howard is no prince charming.”

Adriana Delgado; Beachy Books (Even If You’re Not Going Near the Beach); The Palm Beach Post (Florida); May 28, 2020.



See more usage examples of Prince Charming in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg



What does a bride-to-be have in common with a president elect? Both are waiting for their big day, but that’s not what we have in mind here. It’s how we use the adjectives to describe their transient states. In both cases, we put the adjectives after the nouns, not in front as is typical in the English language.



Welcome to postpositives! The term may look unfamiliar, but if you know what a preposition is you can guess a postposition or a postpositive. Unlike a preposition, which goes before a word, postpositives go after.



Enjoy this treasure trove of postpositive adjectives we have collected in this week’s A.Word.A.Day.


ad litem

PRONUNCIATION:

(AD LYT-uhm)



MEANING:

adjective: Appointed by a court to represent someone, such as a child, who is considered incapable of representing themselves in a lawsuit.



ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin ad litem (literally, for the lawsuit), from ad (toward) + litigare (to go to law), from lis (dispute) + agere (to drive). Earliest documented use: 1683.



USAGE:

“‘And what does Kiley want?’ The judge directed his question to the guardian ad litem.

‘Your Honor, she’s not even three years old,’ Diane said.

‘I didn’t ask if she wanted to run off and live with Santa Claus. I’m simply asking a question of our assigned guardian ad litem, since presumably she needs to justify her public-interest salary here today.’”

Lee Child; Vengeance; Mulholland Books; 2012.

errant

PRONUNCIATION:

(ER-uhnt)



MEANING:

adjective:

1. Traveling, especially in search of adventure.

2. Erring, straying, or moving aimlessly.



ETYMOLOGY:

For 1: From Old French errer (to travel), from Latin iterare (to travel), from iter (road, trip).

For 2: From Old French errer (to err), from Latin errare (to wander or to err).

Earliest documented use: 1400s.



NOTES:

How in the world can a word have so many different meanings? Blame homographs, two different words having the same spelling (lead, the verb & lead, the metal). In the case of today’s word, two Latin words (iterare and errare) evolved into the Old French errer. This homographic confusion continued when the words traveled to English. As if this weren’t enough, the word errant has morphed into another word resulting in further confusion: arrant.

Only the first adjective form is used postpositively.



USAGE:

“For all my lady-errant escapades, I still hold the proprieties in respect.”

Robert Barr; The Charm of the Old World Romances; E-artnow; 2016.



See more usage examples of errant in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

aforethought


PRONUNCIATION:

(uh-FOHR-thot)



MEANING:

adjective: Planned or premeditated; not by accident.



ETYMOLOGY:

From afore (before) + thought, from Old English thoht. Ultimately from the Indo-European root tong-
(to think or feel), which also gave us the words think and thank. Earliest documented use: 1472.



USAGE:

“[Jack] Taylor has definitely killed two men, one more or less by accident, the other with malice aforethought.”

Patrick Anderson; One Tough Tippler; The Washington Post; Jan 27, 2003.



See more usage examples of aforethought in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

immemorial

PRONUNCIATION:

(im-uh-MOHR-ee-uhl)



MEANING:

adjective: Very old; beyond memory or recorded history.



ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin in- (not) + memoria (memory). Earliest documented use: 1593.



USAGE:

“Central bankers like giving the impression that they have played such roles since time immemorial, but as Lord King points out the reality is otherwise. The Fed was created only in 1913.”

Mervyn King and the Financial Crisis; The Economist (London, UK); Mar 12, 2016.



See more usage examples of immemorial in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

laureate

PRONUNCIATION:

(LOR-ee-uht)



MEANING:

adjective: Having special distinction or recognition in a field.

noun: A person honored for achieving distinction in a field.



ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin laureatus (crowned with laurel), from laurea (crown of laurel), feminine of laureus (of laurel), from laurus (laurel). Earliest documented use: 1395.



NOTES:

In ancient Greece, a wreath or a crown of laurel sprigs was used to honor people. The word baccalaureate as a synonym for bachelor’s degree was formed from the alteration of Latin baccalarius to conform to bacca lauri (laurel berry).



USAGE:

“To foster financial education, the US President or the Secretary of the Treasury should appoint an investor laureate to serve the nation.”

Steven M. Sears; The Indomitable Investor; Wiley; 2012.

[May we suggest Bernie Madoff as our first investor laureate? -Ed.]



See more usage examples of laureate in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg



We bump into people as we go on with our lives, at work, as neighbors, in relationships, as aisle-mates on a flight, and more. Some associations are like ships passing in an ocean, lasting for a few moments, others for a lifetime.



Each person is unique, a unique combination of talents, likes, viewpoints, and more. It’s hard to sum up a whole person by a single word, but we are not limited to a single word. In this week’s A.Word.A.Day we give you five words to describe people. Does anyone come to mind who fits one or more of these attributes? Share them below or email us at words@wordsmith.org.


ambivert

PRONUNCIATION:

(AM-bi-vuhrt)



MEANING:

noun: One having the characteristics of both an extrovert and an introvert.



NOTES:

An ambivert is one who can be an extrovert or an introvert depending on the situation. For example, with family or close friends one can be open and outgoing while being reserved in the presence of strangers. Also, an ambivert can refer to someone who falls somewhere between the two extremes and shows some tendencies of each.



ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin ambi- (both) + -vert (as in introvert/extrovert), from vertere (to turn). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wer- (to turn or bend), which also gave us wring, weird, writhe, worth, revert, universe, animadvert, divers, quaquaversal, obverse, obvert, and verso. Earliest documented use: 1923.



USAGE:

“Being an ambivert, I speak very less or nothing at unknown people and a lot at close ones.”

Sasidhar Kareti; Unconditional Uncommitted; Notion Press; 2018.