de- down. decrease, deactivate, depreciate.
fra- brittle, shattered. fragile, fraction, fracture.
ob-/op- toward, against. obstacle, opponent, opposite.
sym- with, together. sympathetic, symbolize, symmetrical.
※Definition
propinquity:he state of being close to someone or something; proximity.
impede:delay or prevent (someone or something) by obstructing them; hinder.
sedate:calm, dignified, and unhurried.
bliss:perfect happiness; great joy.
equanimity:mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.
inebriated:make (someone) drunk; intoxicate.
gusto:enjoyment or vigor in doing something; zest
garrulous:excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters.
gaudy:extravagantly bright or showy, typically so as to be tasteless.
galvanize:shock or excite (someone), typically into taking action.
encumbrance:a burden or impediment.
jocose:playful or humorous
peremptory:(especially of a person's manner or actions) insisting on immediate attention or obedience, especially in a brusquely imperious way.
decorum:behavior in keeping with good taste and propriety.
※When I was One-and-Twenty
When I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say,
“Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;
Give pearls away and rubies
But keep your fancy free.”
But I was one-and-twenty,
No use to talk to me.
When I was one-and-twenty
I heard him say again,
“The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain;
’Tis paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue.”
And I am two-and-twenty,
And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.
The Philosophy of Composition" is an 1846 essay written by American writer Edgar Allan Poe that elucidates a theory about how good writers write when they write well. He concludes that length, "unity of effect" and a logical method are important considerations for good writing. He also makes the assertion that "the death... of a beautiful woman" is "unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world". Poe uses the composition of his own poem "The Raven" as an example. The essay first appeared in the April 1846 issue of Graham's Magazine. It is uncertain if it is an authentic portrayal of Poe's own method.
※Do not go gentle into that good night
by Dylan Thomas
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
※Journey of the Magi
by T.S. EliotA
cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.'
And the camels galled, sore-footed,
refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the
terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and
grumbling
And running away, and wanting their
liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the
lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns
unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high
prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all
night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears,
saying
That this was all folly.
Then at dawn we came down to a
temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of
vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill
beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped in
away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with
vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for
pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no imformation, and so
we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment
too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say)
satisfactory.
All this was a long time ago, I
remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth,
certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had
seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different;
this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like
Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these
Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old
dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their
gods.
I should be glad of another death.
※Vocabulary Journal
WEEK28
vulnerable (adj.) Look up vulnerable at Dictionary.com
c. 1600, from
Late Latin vulnerabilis "wounding," from Latin vulnerare "to
wound, hurt, injure, maim," from vulnus (genitive vulneris)
"wound," perhaps related to vellere "pluck, to tear" (see
svelte), or from PIE *wele-nes-, from *wele- (2) "to strike, wound"
(see Valhalla).
bedlam (n.) Look up bedlam at Dictionary.com
"scene of
mad confusion," 1660s, from colloquial pronunciation of "Hospital of
Saint Mary of Bethlehem" in London, founded 1247 as a priory, mentioned as
a hospital 1330 and as a lunatic hospital 1402; converted to a state lunatic asylum
on dissolution of the monasteries in 1547. It was spelled Bedlem in a will from
1418, and Betleem is recorded as a spelling of Bethlehem in Judea from 971.
cacophony (n.) Look up cacophony at Dictionary.com
1650s, from
Greek kakophonia, from kakophonos "harsh sounding," from kakos
"bad, evil" (see caco-) + phone "voice, sound," from PIE
root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say" (see fame (n.)). Related:
Cacophonous.
(n.) Look up
exploit at Dictionary.com
late 14c.,
"outcome of an action," from Old French esploit "a carrying out;
achievement, result; gain, advantage" (12c., Modern French exploit), a
very common word, used in senses of "action, deed, profit,
achievement," from Latin explicitum "a thing settled, ended, or
displayed," noun use of neuter of explicitus, past participle of explicare
"unfold, unroll, disentangle" (see explicit).
Meaning
"feat, achievement" is c. 1400. Sense evolution is from
"unfolding" to "bringing out" to "having
advantage" to "achievement." Related: Exploits.
(v.) Look up
exploit at Dictionary.com
c. 1400,
espleiten, esploiten "to accomplish, achieve, fulfill," from Old
French esploitier, espleiter "carry out, perform, accomplish," from
esploit (see exploit (n.)). The sense of "use selfishly" first
recorded 1838, from a sense development in French perhaps from use of the word
with reference to mines, etc. (compare exploitation). Related: Exploited;
exploiting.
propinquity (n.) Look up propinquity at Dictionary.com
late 14c.,
"nearness in relation, kinship," later also "physical
nearness" (early 15c.), from Old French propinquite (13c.) and directly
from Latin propinquitatem (nominative propinquitas) "nearness, vicinity;
relationship, affinity," from propinquus "near, neighboring,"
from prope "near" (enlarged from PIE *pro "before;" see
pro-) + suffix -inquus.
Nothing
propinks like propinquity [Ian Fleming, chapter heading, "Diamonds are
Forever," 1956; phrase popularized 1960s by U.S. diplomat George Ball]
-
disgruntled (adj.) Look up disgruntled at Dictionary.com
past
participle adjective from disgruntle.
infallible (adj.) Look up infallible at Dictionary.com
"exempt
from error in judgment, knowledge, or opinion," early 15c., from Medieval
Latin infallibilis, from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + Late
Latin fallibilis (see fallible). In reference to Popes, attested from 1870,
hence infallibilism, the doctrine of this; infallibilist. Related: Infallibly.
panacea (n.) Look up panacea at Dictionary.com
"universal
remedy," 1540s, from Latin panacea, a herb (variously identified) that
would heal all illnesses, from Greek panakeia "cure-all," from
panakes "all-healing," from pan- "all" (see pan-) + akos
"cure," from iasthai "to heal" (see -iatric). Earlier in
English as panace (1510s).
eradicate (v.) Look up eradicate at Dictionary.com
early 15c.,
"destroy utterly," literally "pull up by the roots," from
Latin eradicatus, past participle of eradicare "to root out,
annihilate" (see eradication). Related: Eradicated; eradicating;
eradicable.
impede (v.) Look up impede at Dictionary.com
c. 1600,
back-formation from impediment, or else from Latin impedire "impede, be in
the way, hinder, detain," literally "to shackle the feet."
Related: Impeded; impedes; impeding; impedient.
-
(adj.) Look up
sedate at Dictionary.com
"calm,
quiet," 1660s, from Latin sedatus "composed, moderate, quiet,
tranquil," past participle of sedare "to settle, calm,"
causative of sedere "to sit" (see sedentary). Related: Sedately
(v.) Look up
sedate at Dictionary.com
"treat
with sedatives," 1945, a back-formation from the noun derivative of
sedative (adj.). The word also existed 17c. in a sense "make calm or
quiet." Related: Sedated; sedating.
equanimity (n.) Look up equanimity at Dictionary.com
c. 1600,
"fairness, impartiality," from French équanimité, from Latin
aequanimitatem (nominative aequanimitas) "evenness of mind, calmness;
good-will, kindness," from aequanimis "mild, kind," literally
"even-minded," from aequus "even, level" (see equal (adj.))
+ animus "mind, spirit" (see animus). Meaning "evenness of
temper" in English is from 1610
compatible (adj.) Look up compatible at Dictionary.com
mid-15c., from
Middle French compatible (15c.), from Medieval Latin compatibilis, from Late
Latin compati (see compassion). Related: Compatibility.
serenity (n.) Look up serenity at Dictionary.com
1530s, of
weather, 1590s, of persons, from Middle French sérénité, from Latin serenitatem
(nominative serenitas) "clearness, serenity," from serenus (see
serene). Earliest use (mid-15c.) was as a title of honor for kings, probably
from the similar use of Latin serenitas, applied to Roman emperors, later
popes.
revere (v.) Look up revere at Dictionary.com
1660s, from
French révérer, from Latin revereri "revere, fear" (see reverence
(n.), which also was the earlier form of the verb). Related: Revered; revering.
-
irrational (adj.) Look up irrational at Dictionary.com
late 15c.,
"not endowed with reason" (of beasts, etc.), from Latin
irrationalis/inrationalis "without reason, not rational," from
assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + rationalis
"of or belonging to reason, reasonable" (see rational (adj.)).
Meaning
"illogical, absurd" is attested from 1640s. Related: Irrationally.
The mathematical sense "inexpressible in ordinary numbers" is from
late 14c. in English, from use of the Latin word as a translation of Greek
alogon in Euclid.
avarice (n.) Look up avarice at Dictionary.com
c. 1300, from
Old French avarice "greed, covetousness" (12c.), from Latin avaritia
"greed," from avarus "greedy," adjectival form of avere
"crave, long for."
insatiable (adj.) Look up insatiable at Dictionary.com
early 15c.,
insaciable, from Old French insaciable "ravenous" (15c., Modern
French insatiable), or directly from Latin insatiabilis "not to be
satisfied," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + satiabilis,
from satiare (see satiate). Related: Insatiably; insatiableness.
nadir (n.) Look up nadir at Dictionary.com
late 14c., in
astronomical sense, from Medieval Latin nadir, from Arabic nazir "opposite
to," in nazir as-samt, literally "opposite direction," from
nazir "opposite" + as-samt "road, path" (see zenith
moribund (adj.) Look up moribund at Dictionary.com
1721,
"about to die," from Middle French moribund (16c.), from Latin
moribundus "dying, at the point of death," from mori "to
die" (see mortal (adj.)). Figurati
WEEK29
lithe (adj.) Look up lithe at Dictionary.com
Old English
liðe "soft, mild, gentle, calm, meek," also, of persons,
"gracious, kind, agreeable," from Proto-Germanic *linthja- (source
also of Old Saxon lithi "soft, mild, gentle," Old High German lindi,
German lind, Old Norse linr "soft to the touch, gentle, mild,
agreeable," with characteristic loss of "n" before
"th" in English), from PIE root *lento- "flexible" (source
also of Latin lentus "flexible, pliant, slow," Sanskrit lithi).
In Middle
English, used of the weather. Current sense of "easily flexible" is
from c. 1300. Related: Litheness. Old and Middle English had the related verb
lin "to cease doing (something)," also used of the wind dying down.
obese (adj.) Look up obese at Dictionary.com
1650s,
back-formation from obesity and in part from Latin obesus "fat, stout,
plump," past participle of obedere "that has eaten itself fat"
(see obesity). According to OED, "Rare before 19th c." Related:
Obeseness. Latin obesus was translated in Old English as oferfæt
"overfat."
(adj.) Look up
adherent at Dictionary.com
late 14c.,
"sticking, clinging to, adhesive," from Old French adherent or
directly from Latin adhaerentem (nominative adhaerens), present participle of
adhaerere "stick to," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + haerere
"to stick" (past participle haesus; see hesitation).
(n.) Look up
adherent at Dictionary.com
early 15c.,
"follower, supporter, one who upholds (a leader, cause, etc.)," from
Old French adherent or directly from Latin adhaerentem (nominative adhaerens),
present participle of adhaerere "stick to," from ad "to"
(see ad-) + haerere "to stick" (see hesitation). Meaning
"adhesive substance" is from 1912.
(n.) Look up
bliss at Dictionary.com
Old English
blis, also bliðs "bliss, merriment, happiness, grace, favor," from
Proto-Germanic *blithsjo (source also of Old Saxon blidsea, blizza), from
*blithiz "gentle, kind" + *-tjo noun suffix. Originally mostly of
earthly happiness; influenced by association with bless and blithe.
(v.) Look up
bliss at Dictionary.com
often with
out, by 1973, U.S. colloquial, from bliss (n.).
pathetic (adj.) Look up pathetic at Dictionary.com
1590s,
"affecting the emotions, exciting the passions," from Middle French
pathétique "moving, stirring, affecting" (16c.), from Late Latin
patheticus, from Greek pathetikos "subject to feeling, sensitive, capable
of emotion," from pathetos "liable to suffer," verbal adjective
of pathein "to suffer" (see pathos). Meaning "arousing pity,
pitiful" is first recorded 1737. Colloquial sense of "so miserable as
to be ridiculous" is attested from 1937. Related: Pathetical (1570s);
pathetically. Pathetic fallacy (1856, first used by Ruskin) is the attribution
of human qualities to inanimate objects.
-
exhort (v.) Look up exhort at Dictionary.com
c. 1400,
"to exhort, encourage," from Old French exhorer (13c.) and directly
from Latin exhortari "to exhort, encourage, stimulate" (see
exhortation). Related: Exhorted; exhorting.
apathy (n.) Look up apathy at Dictionary.com
c. 1600,
"freedom from suffering," from French apathie (16c.), from Latin
apathia, from Greek apatheia "freedom from suffering, impassability, want
of sensation," from apathes "without feeling, without suffering or
having suffered," from a- "without" (see a- (3)) + pathos
"emotion, feeling, suffering" (see pathos). Originally a positive
quality; sense of "indolence of mind, indifference to what should
excite" is from c. 1733.
fracas (n.) Look up fracas at Dictionary.com
1727, from
French fracas "crash, sudden noise; tumult, bustle, fuss" (15c.),
from Italian fracasso "uproar, crash," back-formation from fracassare
"to smash, crash, break in pieces," from fra-, a shortening of Latin
infra "below" (see infra-) + Italian cassare "to break,"
from Latin quassare "to shake" (see quash).
inebriated (adj.) Look up inebriated at Dictionary.com
"drunken,"
c. 1600, past participle adjective from inebriate. The earlier adjective was
inebriate (late 15c.).
adversary (n.) Look up adversary at Dictionary.com
"unfriendly
opponent, enemy" (originally especially of Satan as the enemy of mankind),
mid-14c., aduersere, from Anglo-French adverser (13c.), Old French adversarie
(12c., Modern French adversaire) "hostile opponent, enemy," or
directly from Latin adversarius "an opponent, rival, enemy," noun use
of adjective meaning "opposite, hostile, contrary," literally
"turned toward one," from adversus "turned against, turned
toward, fronting, facing," figuratively "hostile, adverse,
unfavorable," past participle of advertere "to turn toward,"
from ad "to" (see ad-) + vertere "to turn, turn back, be turned;
convert, transform, translate; be changed" (see versus). The Latin word is
glossed in Old English by wiðerbroca.
-
(adj.) Look up
indolent at Dictionary.com
1660s,
"causing no pain, painless," from French indolent (16c.) or directly
from Late Latin indolentem (see indolence). Sense of "living easily,
slothful," is 1710, a sense perhaps developed in French. Related:
Indolently.
gusto (n.) Look up gusto at Dictionary.com
1620s, "very
common from the beginning of the 19th c." [OED], from Italian gusto
"taste," from Latin gustus "a tasting," related to gustare
"to taste, take a little of," from PIE *gus-tu-, suffixed form of
root *geus- "to taste, choose" (source also of Sanskrit jus-
"enjoy, be pleased," Avestan zaosa- "pleasure," Old Persian
dauš- "enjoy"). The root forms words for "taste" in Greek
and Latin, but its descendants in Germanic and Celtic mostly mean
"try" or "choose" (such as Old English cosan, cesan, Modern
English choose; Gothic kausjan "to test, to taste of," Old High
German koston "try," German kosten "taste of"). The
semantic development could have been in either direction. English first
borrowed the French form, guste "organ of taste; sense of taste"
(mid-15c.), but this became obsolete.
garrulous (adj.) Look up garrulous at Dictionary.com
1610s, from
Latin garrulus "talkative, chattering," from garrire "to
chatter," from PIE root *gar- "to call, cry," of imitative
origin (compare Greek gerys "voice, sound," Ossetic zar
"song," Welsh garm, Old Irish gairm "noise, cry"). Related:
Garrulously; garrulousness.
banal (adj.) Look up banal at Dictionary.com
"trite,
commonplace," 1840, from French banal, "belonging to a manor, common,
hackneyed, commonplace," from Old French banel "communal"
(13c.), from ban "decree; legal control; announcement; authorization;
payment for use of a communal oven, mill, etc." (see ban (v.)). The modern
sense evolved from the word's use in designating things like ovens or mills
that belonged to feudal serfs, or else compulsory military service; in either
case it was generalized in French through "open to everyone" to
"commonplace, ordinary," to "trite, petty."
platitude (n.) Look up platitude at Dictionary.com
1812,
"dullness," from French platitude "flatness, vapidness"
(late 17c.), from Old French plat "flat" (see plateau (n.)); formed
on analogy of latitude, etc. Meaning "a flat, dull, or commonplace
remark" is recorded from 1815. Related: Platitudinous. Hence
platitudinarian (n.), 1855; platitudinize (1867).
-
(n.) Look up
pique at Dictionary.com
1530s,
"fit of ill feeling," from Middle French pique "a prick, sting,
irritation," noun of action from piquer (see pike (n.2)).
(v.) Look up
pique at Dictionary.com
"to
excite to anger," 1670s, from French piquer "to prick, sting"
(see pike (n.2)). Softened meaning "to stimulate, excite" is from
1690s. Related: Piqued; piquing.
dilettante (n.) Look up dilettante at Dictionary.com
1733,
borrowing of Italian dilettante "lover of music or painting," from
dilettare "to delight," from Latin delectare (see delight (n.)).
Originally without negative connotation, "devoted amateur," the
pejorative sense emerged late 18c. by contrast with professional.
atypical (adj.) Look up atypical at Dictionary.com
1847, from a-
(2) "not" + typical. Related: Atypica
nondescript (adj.) Look up nondescript at Dictionary.com
1680s,
"not hitherto described," in scientific usage, coined from non- +
Latin descriptus, past participle of describere (see describe). General sense
of "not easily described or classified" is from 1806.
wane (v.) Look
up wane at Dictionary.com
Old English
wanian "make or become smaller gradually, diminish, decline, fade,"
from Proto-Germanic *wanen (source also of Old Saxon wanon, Old Norse vana, Old
Frisian wania, Middle Dutch waenen, Old High German wanon "to wane, to
grow less"), from *wano- "lacking," from PIE *we-no-, from root
*eue- "to leave, abandon, give out" (see vain). Related: Waned;
waning; wanes.
WEEK30
extinct (adj.) Look up extinct at Dictionary.com
early 15c.,
"extinguished, quenched," from Latin extinctus/exstinctus, past
participle of extinguere/exstinguere "to put out, quench; go out, die out;
kill, destroy" (see extinguish). Originally of fires; in reference to the
condition of a family or a hereditary title that has "died out," from
1580s; of species by 1690s. Shakespeare uses it as a verb. Compare extinction.
idyllic (adj.) Look up idyllic at Dictionary.com
"full of
natural, simple charm," 1831, literally "suitable for an idyll"
from French idyllique or else from idyll + -ic. In late 18c. it meant
"pertaining to an idyll."
galvanize (v.) Look up galvanize at Dictionary.com
1801,
"stimulate by galvanic electricity," from French galvaniser, from
galvanisme (see galvanism). Figurative sense of "excite, stimulate (as if
by electricity)" first recorded 1853 (galvanic was in figurative use in
1807). Meaning "to coat with metal by means of galvanic electricity"
(especially to plate iron with tin, but now typically to plate it with zinc) is
from 1839.
He'll swear
that in her dancing she cuts all others out,
Though like a
Gal that's galvanized, she throws her legs about.
[Thomas Hood,
"Love has not Eyes," 1845]
Related:
Galvanized; galvanizing.
encumbrance (n.) Look up encumbrance at Dictionary.com
c. 1300,
"trouble, difficulty; ensnarement, temptation," from Old French
encombrance "encumbrance, obstruction; calamity, trouble," from
encombrer (see encumber). Meaning "that which encumbers, impediment,
obstacle" is from late 14c. in English.
gaudy (adj.) Look up gaudy at Dictionary.com
"showy,
tastelessly rich," c. 1600; earlier "joyfully festive" (1580s),
probably a re-adjectivizing of gaudy (n.) "large, ornamental bead in a
rosary" (early 14c.) via the noun gaud + -y (2.). In early Modern English
it also could mean "full of trickery" (1520s).
Or possibly
the adjective is from or influenced by Middle English noun gaudegrene (early
14c.), name of a yellowish-green color or pigment, originally of dye obtained
from the weld plant (see weld (n.1)). This Germanic plant-name became gaude in
Old French, and thus the Middle English word. Under this theory, the sense
shifted from "weld-dye" to "bright ornamentation."
As a noun,
"feast, festival" 1650s, from gaudy day "day of rejoicing"
(1560s).
-
condescend (adj.) Look up condescend at Dictionary.com
mid-14c.,
"to yield deferentially," from Old French condescendere (14c.)
"to agree, consent, give in, yield," from Late Latin condescendere
"to let oneself down," from Latin com "with, together" (see
com-) + descendere "descend" (see descend). Sense of "to sink
willingly to equal terms with inferiors" is from mid-15c.
candor (n.) Look up candor at Dictionary.com
"openness
of mind, impartiality, frankness," c. 1600, from Latin candor
"purity, openness," originally "whiteness," from candere
"to shine, to be white" (see candle). Borrowed earlier in English (c.
1500) with the Latin literal sense "extreme whiteness."
mortify (v.) Look up mortify at Dictionary.com
late 14c.,
"to kill," from Old French mortefiier "destroy, overwhelm,
punish," from Late Latin mortificare "cause death, kill, put to
death," literally "make dead," from mortificus "producing
death," from Latin mors (genitive mortis) "death" (see mortal
(adj.)) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Religious sense
of "to subdue the flesh by abstinence and discipline" first attested
early 15c. Sense of "humiliate" first recorded 1690s (compare
mortification). Related: Mortified; mortifying.
jocose (adj.) Look up jocose at Dictionary.com
"given to
jokes and jesting," 1670s, from Latin iocosus "full of jesting, fond
of jokes, funny," from iocus "pastime, sport; a jest, joke" (see
joke (n.)). Often it implies ponderous humor (compare jocund). Related:
Jocosely; jocoseness.
(adj.) Look up
malign at Dictionary.com
early 14c.,
from Old French maligne "having an evil nature," from Latin malignus
"wicked, bad-natured," from male "badly" (see mal-) + -gnus
"born," from gignere "to bear, beget," from PIE root *gn-
"to bear" (see genus).
(v.) Look up
malign at Dictionary.com
"to
slander," mid-15c., from earlier more literal sense of "to plot, to
contrive" (early 15c.), from Old French malignier "to plot, deceive,
pervert," from Late Latin malignare "to do maliciously," from
malignus "mean, unkind" (see malign (adj.)). Related: Maligned;
maligning.
-
omnipotent (adj.) Look up omnipotent at Dictionary.com
early 14c.,
from Old French omnipotent "almighty, all-powerful" (11c.) or
directly from Latin omnipotentem (nominative omnipotens) "all-powerful,
almighty," from omnis "all" (see omni-) + potens (genitive
potentis) "powerful" (see potent). Strictly only of God or a deity;
general sense of "having absolute power or authority" is attested
from 1590s.
zenith (n.) Look up zenith at Dictionary.com
"point of
the heavens directly overhead at any place," late 14c., from Old French
cenith (Modern French zénith), from Medieval Latin cenit, senit, bungled
scribal transliterations of Arabic samt "road, path," abbreviation of
samt ar-ras, literally "the way over the head." Letter -m- misread as
-ni-.
The Medieval
Latin word could as well be influenced by the rough agreement of the Arabic
term with classical Latin semita "sidetrack, side path" (notion of
"thing going off to the side"), from se- "apart" + *mi-ta-,
suffixed zero-grade form of PIE root *mei- (1) "to change" (see
mutable). Figurative sense of "highest point or state" is from c.
1600.
fledgling also
fledgeling, 1830, "untried" (adj.), in Tennyson; 1846 as a noun
meaning "young bird" (one newly fledged); from fledge + diminutive
suffix -ling. Of persons, from 1856.
peremptory (adj.) Look up peremptory at Dictionary.com
"decisive,"
mid-15c., legal term, from Anglo-French peremptorie, from Middle French
peremtoire, from Latin peremptorius "destructive, decisive, final,"
from peremptor "destroyer," from perimpere "destroy, cut
off," from per "away entirely, to destruction" (see per) + emere
"to take" (see exempt (adj.)). Of persons or their words,
"certain, assured, brooking no debate," 1580s. Related: Peremptorily.
(n.) Look up
precedent at Dictionary.com
early 15c.,
"case which may be taken as a rule in similar cases," from Middle
French precedent, noun use of an adjective, from Latin praecedentum (nominative
praecedens), present participle of praecedere "go before" (see
precede). Meaning "thing or person that goes before another" is
attested from mid-15c. As an adjective in English from c. 1400. As a verb
meaning "to furnish with a precedent" from 1610s, now only in past
participle precedented.
-
wheedle (v.) Look up wheedle at Dictionary.com
"to
influence by flattery," 1660s, of uncertain origin, perhaps connected with
Old English wædlian "to beg," from wædl "poverty" [OED], or
borrowed by English soldiers in the Thirty Years' War from German wedeln
"wag the tail," hence "fawn, flatter" (compare adulation).
Related: Wheedled; wheedling.
rustic (adj.) Look up rustic at Dictionary.com
mid-15c., from
Latin rusticus "of the country, rural; country-like, plain, simple, rough,
coarse, awkward," from rus (genitive ruris) "open land, country"
(see rural). Noun meaning "a country person, peasant" is from 1550s
(also in classical Latin). Related: Rustical (early 15c.).
jubilant (adj.) Look up jubilant at Dictionary.com
1660s
(Milton), from Latin iubilantem (nominative iubilans), present participle of
iubilare "to let out whoops," in Christian writers, "to shout
for joy," related to iubilum "wild shout," from Proto-Italic
*iu, an exclamation of joy that probably was in Proto-Indo-European (cognates:
Greek iu, an interjection of amazement, iuge "crying;" Middle High
German ju, juch, an exclamation of joy; Dutch juichen, Old Norse yla, English
yowl). With ending as in sibilant. Related: Jubilantly.
(n.) Look up decorum at Dictionary.com
1560s, from
Latin decorum "that which is seemly," noun use of neuter of adjective
decorus "fit, proper," from decor (see dec
charlatan (n.) Look up charlatan at Dictionary.com
1610s, from
French charlatan "mountebank, babbler" (16c.), from Italian
ciarlatano "a quack," from ciarlare "to prate, babble,"
from ciarla "chat, prattle," perhaps imitative of ducks' quacking.
Related: Charlatanism; charlatanical; charlatanry.
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