: sour milk that has been thickened or curdled Since then, "unregenerate" has taken on a life of its own, gaining the extended specific meanings of "unconverted to a particular doctrinaire viewpoint," "persisting in a reactionary stand," or just plain "stubborn." Both "regenerate" and "unregenerate" trace back to the Latin "genus," meaning "birth" or "descent." By the late 1500s, English speakers had added "un-" to "regenerate" to describe someone who refused to accept spiritual reformation. There was a time when the adjective "regenerate" had more to do with being spiritually reborn than with being physically re-created in the 16th century, "regenerate" was used of someone spiritually reborn. Unregenerate \un-rih-JEN-uh-rut\ adjectiveĭespite pleadings from his friends, Shane remained unregenerate about his decision.
WORD OF THE DAY PROFESSIONAL
" Tolkien tells us that hobbits "are inclined to be fat," and that they "dress in bright colours" they "have good-natured faces, and deep fruity laughs (especially after dinner)." Tolkien, a professional linguist who taught at Oxford, coined the word "hobbit" (and many other terms - in fact, a whole new language) for The Hobbit and for his enormously popular series The Lord of the Rings. There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along. The author then answered himself: "They are (or were) little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded Dwarves. Tolkien in the 1937 fantasy novel that introduced Mr. Mitchell, National Geographic, July 1, 2004) "As lush as any hobbit's realm, the forest engulfs Sams River Loop Trail." (John G.
: a member of a fictitious peaceful and genial race of small humanlike creatures that dwell underground "Specious" traces to the Latin word "speciosus," meaning "beautiful" or "plausible," and Middle English speakers used it to mean "visually pleasing." But by the 17th century, "specious" had begun to suggest an attractiveness that was superficial or deceptive, and, subsequently, the word's neutral "pleasing" sense faded into obsolescence. "Appearances can be deceptive." "Things are not always as they seem." Like these familiar proverbs, the word "specious" attests that English speakers can be a skeptical lot when it comes to trusting outward appearances. ġ : having deceptive attraction or allureĢ : having a false look of truth or genuineness : sophisticįrom the get-go Shelly felt that Clark's claim was specious, but he insisted he was telling the truth and she couldn't at first prove otherwise. See Privacy Policy at and California Privacy Notice at. *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. (In some contexts the term is used to refer to the final act of executing a convicted criminal.) Less than fifty years later, "coup de grâce" had come to mean "an act or event that puts a definite end to something." Other "coup" terms that have made the jump from French to English include "coup de main," for a sudden, forceful attack, and "coup d'état" for a violent overthrow of a government usually by a small group.
Paul's team led throughout the game, but the coup de grace was his three-run homer in the eighth inning.īorrowed directly from French and first appearing in English at the end of the 17th century, "coup de grâce" (literally, a "stroke of grace" or "blow of mercy") originally referred to a mercy killing, or the act of putting to death a person or animal who was severely injured and unlikely to recover. Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for Octois:ġ : a deathblow or death shot administered to end the suffering of one mortally woundedĢ : a decisive finishing blow, act, or event