Word of the Day
lebkuchen
noun
a hard, chewy or brittle Christmas cookie, usually flavored with honey and spices and containing nuts and citron.
More about lebkuchen
Lebkuchen, 鈥渁 hard Christmas cookie,鈥� is a borrowing from German and is equivalent to Kuchen, 鈥渃ake,鈥� plus an element of unclear origin. Kuchen is related to English cake and the Word of the Day krumkake. The Leb- part may be related to Latin 濒墨产耻尘, 鈥渇latbread, sacrificial cake,鈥� which in turn could be the root of 濒墨产腻谤别, 鈥渢o pour an offering,鈥� as in libation. Alternatively, the Leb- element may share an origin with German Laib and English loaf (and, by extension, lady and lord). Lebkuchen was first recorded in English in the late 1840s.
EXAMPLE OF LEBKUCHEN USED IN A SENTENCE
I searched bakery after bakery but could not find one that sold lebkuchen, whose uniquely nutty and spicy aroma I greatly missed.
esculent
adjective
suitable for use as food; edible.
More about esculent
Esculent 鈥渟uitable for use as food鈥� comes from Latin 脓蝉肠耻濒别苍迟耻蝉 鈥渆dible, full of food,鈥� which is equivalent to 脓蝉肠补 鈥渇ood鈥� plus -ulentus, an adjective-forming suffix roughly meaning 鈥渇ull of.鈥� The element -ulent also appears in fraudulent (literally 鈥渇ull of deceit鈥�) and opulent (鈥渇ull of wealth鈥�). Latin 脓蝉肠补 is derived from the verb edere 鈥渢o eat,鈥� which has two stems: ed-, as in edible (literally 鈥渆atable鈥�), and es-, as in comestible (鈥渆at up-able鈥�). Esculent was first recorded in English circa 1620.
EXAMPLE OF ESCULENT USED IN A SENTENCE
They planned to bring a succulent salad made from a range of esculent greens they had foraged.
More about brume
Brume, 鈥渕ist or fog,鈥� is a borrowing from French and comes via 笔谤辞惫别苍莽补濒 bruma from Latin 产谤奴尘补, 鈥渨inter, winter solstice.鈥� 叠谤奴尘补 is ultimately a contraction of brevissima (di膿s), 鈥渟hortest (day),鈥� which is the superlative of brevis, 鈥渟hort.鈥� Brevis is the source of abbreviate and brevity as well as (by way of French) abridge and brief. In Latin,聽the superlative forms are often marked with -issimus; compare Italian bravissimo and generalissimo. Brume was first recorded in English in the first decade of the 19th century.
EXAMPLE OF BRUME USED IN A SENTENCE
With excellent timing, a brume arose from the sea on the solstice and spread inland, all as if to signal that winter had come.