DOUG'S WORD OF THE WEEK

sybaritic / sib-uh-rit-ik / adjective: 1. Devoted to or marked by pleasure and luxury. 2 Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Sybaris or its inhabitants.

Notes & Etymology: From the Latin Sybariticus which is taken from Sybaris a celebrated city of Magna Graecia on the western shore of the Gulf of Taranto. The wealth of the city in the 6th century B.C. was such that the Sybarites became synonymous with pleasure and luxury.

Usage: “With Homer Simpson out of the way, we celebrities can go back to our lives of sybaritic excess."
J. Stewart Burns; The Simpsons “Homerazzi”; 2007

DOUG'S WORD OF THE WEEK

defenestration  / dee-fen-uh-strey-shuhn / noun: 1. the act of throwing a thing or esp. a person out of a window
Notes & Etymology: From the Latin fenestra meaning window. A word invented for one incident: the "Defenestration of Prague," May 21, 1618, when two Catholic deputies to the Bohemian national assembly and a secretary were tossed out the window (into a moat) of the castle of Hradshin by Protestant radicals. It marked the start of the Thirty Years War.

Usage: “De Haven's work on survival in defenestrations was instrumental in the development of the seat belt. ."

DOUG'S WORD OF THE WEEK

obloquy / OB-luh-kwee / noun: 1. Censure or abusive language towards someone, especially when expressed by many. 2. Disgrace resulting from public condemnation.

Notes & Etymology: From the Latin obloquium (talking against, contradiction), from ob- (against) + loqui (to speak). Ultimately from the Indo-European root tolkw (to speak).

Usage: “[Jimmy Carter] is a man who is prepared to risk the obloquy and criticism of die-hard neocons and nervous fellow senior Democrats to break the chains of Washington's foolish Middle East peace policy."
Carter Mission; Arab News (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia); Apr 9, 2008

DOUG'S WORD OF THE WEEK

sanguine / SANG-gwin / adjective: 1. Cheerfully optimistic or confident. 2. Having a healthy reddish color. 3. Blood-red.

Notes & Etymology: From the Old French sanguin, from Latin sanguineus (bloody), from sanguis (blood). In medieval physiology with its notion of the four humors or bodily fluids (blood, bile, phlegm, and black bile). The relative proportions of these fluids was thought to determine a person's temperament. If blood was the predominant humor, one had a ruddy face and a disposition marked by courage, hope, and a readiness to fall in love. Such a temperament was called sanguine

Usage: “His sanguine spirit turns every firefly into a star.”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; The Parasite; 1894

DOUG'S WORD OF THE WEEK

noctilucent / nok-tuh-LOO-suhnt / adjective: 1. Shining at night.


Notes & Etymology: From Latin nocti- (night) + lucent (shining).] The term is used especially to describe certain high atmospheric cloud formations visible during summer nights at high latitudes.


Usage: “The noctilucent paint is powerful enough to light up the entire 20-ft
diameter of the pandal without any light bulbs. ”
Sangita Sultania G. Roy; Glow-worm Goddess for Shoestring Budget;
The Telegraph (Calcutta, India); Oct 21, 2004.

DOUG'S WORD OF THE WEEK

decuman / DEK-yoo-muhn / adjective: 1. Very large or immense 2. (in ancient Rome) of or pertaining to the tenth cohort of a legion.

Notes & Etymology: From Latin decumanus, variant of decimanus (of the tenth), from decimus (tenth), from decem (ten). The word was often applied to waves from the belief that every tenth wave is greater than the others. The word also referred to the main gate of a military camp in ancient Rome called the decuman gate . This gate faced away from the enemy and the tenth cohort of the legion was stationed there.

Usage: “The lover whose soul shaken is In some decuman billow of bliss. ”
Francis Thompson; The Way of a Maid; c. 1890 .

DOUG'S WORD OF THE WEEK

Laodicean / ley-od-uh-see-uhn / adjective: 1. Indifferent or lukewarm especially in matters of religion. noun; a person who is lukewarm or indifferent, esp. in religion. 2.  A native or inhabitant of Laodicea.

Notes & Etymology: From Laodicea, Syrian city (modern Latakia) whose early Christians were chastised in the Bible for indifference to their religion [Rev. iii.14-16]. This was the winning word for the 82nd annual Scripps National Spelling Bee held last Thursday.

Usage: “A laodicean timorous, hesitant voice, how utterly vile I hold you!”
William Watson; For England: poems written during estrangement‎; 1904.