Word of the Day
deliquesce
verb (used without object)
to melt away.
More about deliquesce
Deliquesce, 鈥渢o melt away; become liquid,鈥� comes straight from Latin 诲脓濒颈辩耻脓蝉肠别谤别 鈥渢o become liquid, dissipate one鈥檚 energy,鈥� a compound of the preposition and prefix 诲脓, 诲脓-, here indicating removal, and the verb 濒颈辩耻脓蝉肠别谤别 鈥渢o melt, decompose, putrefy.鈥� 尝颈辩耻脓蝉肠别谤别 is an inchoative verb (also called an inceptive verb), meaning that the verb indicates the beginning, the inception of an action. In Latin (and in Greek) the suffix –sc– (Latin) and –sk– (Greek) changes a verb of state, such as 濒颈辩耻脓谤别 鈥渢o be liquid, be clear,鈥� to an inceptive verb. Derivatives of 濒颈辩耻脓谤别 include liquidus 鈥渃lear, fluid鈥� (English liquid) and liquor 鈥渇luidity, liquid character鈥� (English liquor). Deliquesce entered English in the mid-18th century.
how is deliquesce used?
My thoughts started to deliquesce and slide through my brain like melting cheese.
A subsequent painting in the album … sees Jeong render the white peaks in ink that fades from the top of the composition to the bottom, making the mountain range deliquesce as if in fog.
deliquesce
stultify
verb (used with object)
to render absurdly or wholly futile or ineffectual, especially by degrading or frustrating means.
More about stultify
Stultify comes straight from Late Latin 蝉迟耻濒迟颈蹿颈肠腻谤别, 鈥渢o turn into foolishness,鈥� a compound verb formed from the adjective stultus 鈥渟tupid, dense, foolish鈥� and the combining form –蹿颈肠腻谤别 鈥渢o make, make become鈥� (source via Old French –fier of the English verb suffix –fy), formed from facere 鈥渢o do, make.鈥� Stultus and stolidus 鈥渄ull, brutish, stupid鈥� come from the root stel-, stol– 鈥渢o (make) stand, put.鈥� One odd thing about stultify is that its original meaning in English was as a legal term 鈥渢o allege or prove (oneself or another) to be of unsound mind,鈥� that is, if one stultified oneself, one could evade responsibility for one鈥檚 actions. Stultify entered English in the second half of the 18th century.
how is stultify used?
Up to recently we have proceeded from a premise that poverty is a consequence of multiple evils: lack of education restricting job opportunities; poor housing which stultified home life and suppressed initiative; fragile family relationships which distorted personality development.
Such critics stultify themselves by the coarseness of view (and sometimes of expression) with which they meet the grossness they condemn.
stultify
hebdomadal
adjective
taking place, coming together, or published once every seven days; weekly.
More about hebdomadal
Hebdomadal, 鈥渙ccurring or published every seven days; a weekly publication,鈥� comes via the Late Latin adjective 丑别产诲辞尘补诲腻濒颈蝉 鈥渨eekly,鈥� from Greek 丑别产诲辞尘谩蝉 (inflectional stem 丑别产诲辞尘谩诲-) 鈥渁 group of seven, a seven-day cycle, a week, a fever recurring every seven days.鈥� 贬别产诲辞尘谩蝉 is a derivative of the adjective 丑茅产诲辞尘辞蝉 (also 丑茅产诲别尘辞蝉) 鈥渟eventh,鈥� a complicated but regular derivative of the cardinal number 丑别辫迟谩 鈥渟even.鈥� Original Proto-Indo-European s is lost before a vowel in Greek, becoming h; 丑别辫迟谩 is the Greek result of Proto-Indo-European 蝉别辫迟峁�, which becomes septem in Latin, sapta in Sanskrit, secht in Old Irish, sibun in Gothic, seofon in Old English, seven in English, 蝉别辫迟测苍矛 in Lithuanian, sedm in Czech, sedem in Slovak, and siedem in Polish. Hebdomadal entered English in the first half of the 17th century.
how is hebdomadal used?
A little solace came at tea-time, in the shape of a double ration of bread鈥攁 whole, instead of a half, slice鈥攚ith the delicious addition of a thin scrape of butter: it was the hebdomadal treat to which we all looked forward from Sabbath to Sabbath.
Thirty-six years had passed since. And still he remembered the Sunday evening, the hebdomadal get-together of his parents’ circle of friends.
hebdomadal