Word of the Day
More about noetic
Noetic, 鈥渞elating to the mind; originating in or comprehended by the reason,鈥� is very common in all genres of Greek literature, but especially in Platonic, Aristotelian, and Neoplatonic philosophy. The word comes straight from the Greek adjective 苍辞脓迟颈办贸蝉 鈥渋ntellectual,鈥� a derivative of the noun 苍贸脓蝉颈蝉 鈥渢hought, intelligence.鈥� 狈贸脓蝉颈蝉 is a derivative of the verb 苍辞别卯苍, which in turn comes from the noun 苍辞没蝉, the Attic Greek contracted variant of general Greek 苍贸辞蝉 鈥渕ind, sense, intellect鈥� (Attic Greek, the dialect of Attica, whose capital was Athens, was the basis for Koine or standardized Greek after the late 4th century). As with about 60 percent of ancient Greek vocabulary, there is no convincing etymology for 苍辞没蝉, 苍贸辞蝉. In colloquial British usage, nous (rhyming with mouse, not with moose) also means 鈥渃ommon sense, practical intelligence.鈥� Noetic entered English in the middle of the 17th century.
how is noetic used?
The Kyaanusili peace poem is as tightly patterned as a sonnet, as symmetrical and strophic as a Greek choral ode, and in its way as richly rhymed as a troubadour song鈥攁nd yet these patterns, strophes, rhymes, are made primarily of ideas and of images, only secondarily sounds. This is noetic prosody.
He is a noetic butterfly that no one has pinned down鈥攈e was once offered a job on the Clinton economic team, and the Bush campaign approached him about being a crime adviser鈥攂ut who is widely appreciated.
noetic
More about hugger-mugger
The noun hugger-mugger, 鈥渄isorder or confusion; secrecy; reticence,鈥� has the earlier spellings hucker-mucker, hukermoker, hoker moker, hocker-mocker, hugger mucker, and the Scots variants huggrie-muggrie and hudge-mudge. All of these variant forms share reduplication, similar sounds, and nearly identical meanings, but there is no secure origin or origins for them. The word or element mucker leads some scholars to see a connection with Middle English moker 鈥渨orldly possessions, wealth鈥� and mokeren, mokren 鈥渢o heap up (money); hoard.鈥� Hugger-mugger entered English in the first half of the 16th century.
how is hugger-mugger used?
Usually, Victor enjoyed hidden doors, secret passageways, and the hugger-mugger that was necessarily part of any scheme to destroy civilization.
Newsom doesn鈥檛 relish the rote functions of politics. His smile when he poses with voters is a rictus, he ducks fund-raising calls, and he lacks patience for the backroom hugger-mugger required to pass legislation.
hugger-mugger
perorate
verb (used without object)
to speak at length; make a long, usually grandiloquent speech.
More about perorate
The verb perorate, 鈥渢o speak at length; make a long, grandiloquent speech,鈥� comes from Latin 辫别谤艒谤腻迟耻蝉, the past participle of 辫别谤艒谤腻谤别 鈥渢o plead, harangue, argue a case to the end; deliver the final part of a speech, wind up a case.鈥� 笔别谤艒谤腻谤别 is a compound of the preposition and intensive prefix per, per– 鈥渢hrough, thoroughly鈥� and the simple verb 艒谤腻谤别 鈥渢o beseech, supplicate; speak before a court, plead.鈥� 笔别谤艒谤腻谤别 and its derivative noun 辫别谤艒谤腻迟颈艒 (inflectional stem 辫别谤艒谤腻迟颈艒n– 鈥減eroration鈥�) in Latin imply grandiloquence and forcefulness, but not length, let alone long-windedness, which is a connotation that has always existed in English. Perorate entered English in the early 17th century.
how is perorate used?
And it鈥檚 simply impossible to exit a Zoom lecture gracefully. Believe me, I鈥檝e tried. After I painstakingly perorate on Plato, a virtual red-velvet curtain should fall with flourish at the designated moment and cue the applause. Instead, we mumble, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 it,鈥� and awkwardly fumble for the mouse before the screen freezes on our half-gaping mouths.
She began to perorate. Her speech went on endlessly, as was always the case when Lily Young took the floor.
perorate