Word of The Day!

[Djana Nana]

bathetic
buh-THET-ik , adjective;
1. Displaying or characterized by insincere emotions: the bathetic emotionalism of soap operas.

Quotes:
The bathetic quality of "instant cliche" endings is to some extent counterbalanced by the kind of ending which combines plot-contortion with climactic enlightenment…
-- Heterocosms, Heterocosms
Attempts to capture the awe and pain of dying can often, alas, come out sounding either bathetic or satiric.
-- Nancy Kress, Characters, Emotion and Viewpoint
Origin:
Based on the more common word pathetic , bathetic entered English in the 1830s. It comes from the Greek word bathos which meant "depth."  

[Djana Nana]

Oh look, I know this one!

truncate
TRUHNG-keyt , verb;
1. To shorten by cutting off a part; cut short: Truncate detailed explanations.
2. Mathematics, Computers. To shorten (a number) by dropping a digit or digits: The numbers 1.4142 and 1.4987 can both be truncated to 1.4.
adjective:
1. Truncated.
2. Biology . A. Square or broad at the end, as if cut off transversely. B. Lacking the apex, as certain spiral shells.

Quotes:
He pointed out that it was relatively easy to pronounce, though there was the danger that Americans, obsessed with abbreviation, would truncate it to Nick.
-- Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake
Tonight we had to truncate the chorus work and replace it with rehearsal of the larger scenes.
-- Chuck Zito, A Habit for Death
Origin:
Truncate comes from the Latin word truncātus which meant "to lop." The mathematical and computer usage arose in the 1950s.  

[Djana Nana]

I know this one, too....

crucible
KROO-suh-buhl , noun;
1. A severe, searching test or trial.
2. A container of metal or refractory material employed for heating substances to high temperatures.
3. Metallurgy. A hollow area at the bottom of a furnace in which the metal collects.

Quotes:
From the crucible of such inner turmoil come the various metals, soft or brittle, flawed or pure, precious or common, that determine the good runners, the great runners, and perhaps the former runners.
-- John L. Parker, Once a Runner
It was true that as one watched life in its curious crucible of pain and pleasure, one could not wear over one's face a mask of glass…
-- Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Origin:
Crucible stems from the Old French word croisol which referred to a night lamp.  

[Djana Nana]

gull
guhl , verb;
1. To deceive, trick, or cheat.
noun:
1. A person who is easily deceived or cheated; dupe.

Quotes:
What new commodities have you brought to gull us with?
-- Sir Walter Scott, The Waverly Novels
People always ended up trying to gull her. It happened sooner or later. Trent hadn't shown any likelihood of trying something like this. A pang of regret at her naivety lodged in her chest.
-- Lorelie Brown, Jazz Baby
Origin:
Gull is of uncertain origin, but it may come from the now-obsolete word gull which meant "to guzzle."  

[Djana Nana]

ataraxia
at-uh-RAK-see-uh , noun;
1. A state of freedom from emotional disturbance and anxiety; tranquility.

Quotes:
The former breathes only peace and liberty; he desires only to live and be free from labor; even the ataraxia of the Stoic falls far short of his profound indifference to every other object.
-- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality and a Discourse on Political Economy
Thus, hedonism ends in ataraxia , which confirms the paradoxical relation between sadism and stoicism.
-- Marquis de Sade, 120 Days of Sodom and Other Writings
Origin:
Ataraxia stems from the Greek word of the same spelling that meant "impassiveness."  

[Djana Nana]

ramose
REY-mohs , adjective;
1. Having many branches.
2. Branching.

Quotes:
The exquisite naivete with which, in this passage, the Greek and Anglican Churches are represented as springing into vigorous ramose existence at the precise moment of abscission was too much even for my Protestant simplicity.
-- James Kent Stone, The Invitation Heeded
The ramose or branched root is more frequent than any other.
-- James Lawson Drummond, First Steps to Botany
Origin:
Ramose is derived from the Latin word rāmōsus which meant "full of boughs."  

[Djana Nana]

cacology
ka-KOL-uh-jee , noun;
1. Defectively produced speech; socially unacceptable diction.

Quotes:
As to prose, I don't know Addison's from Johnson's; but I will try to mend my cacology.
-- Lord Byron, The Works and Letters of Lord Byron
Such cacology drives some people to distraction.
-- Linton Weeks, "R Grammar Gaffes Ruining the Language? Maybe Not", NPR
Origin:
Cacology comes from the root caco- meaning "bad." This prefix occurs in loanwords from Greek. Similarly the suffix -logy is a combining form used in the names of sciences and bodies of knowledge.  

[Djana Nana]

piceous
PIS-ee-uhs , adjective;
1. Inflammable; combustible.
2. Of, pertaining to, or resembling pitch.
3. Zoology. Black or nearly black as pitch.

Quotes:
In the silent and piceous hour just before dawn, they advanced at a slow trot, fanning out through the slave quarters and into the yard that divided the gin house, the mill, and the buildings where Canning and I slept unaware.
-- Geraldine Brooks, March
Dark pink for the brick buildings, dark green for the doorjambs and the benches, dark iron for the hinges, dark stone for Nathaniel's Tomb; darkness in the piceous roots of trees that broke through the earth like bones through skin.
-- Roger Rosenblatt, Beet
Origin:
Piceous stems from the Latin word piceus meaning "made of pitch."  

[Djana Nana]

manifold
MAN-uh-fohld , adjective;
1. Of many kinds; numerous and varied: manifold duties.
2. Having numerous different parts, elements, features, forms, etc.: a manifold program for social reform.
noun:
1. Something having many different parts or features.
2. A copy or facsimile, as of something written, such as is made by manifolding
verb:
1. To make copies of, as with carbon paper.

Quotes:
The possible moves being not only manifold , but involute, the chances of such oversights are multiplied; and in nine cases out of ten, it is the more concentrative rather than the more acute player who conquers.
-- Edgar Allen Poe, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
Whatever his arrangements are, however, they are always a pattern of neatness; and every one of the manifold articles connected with his manifold occupations is to be found in its own particular place.
-- Charles Dickens, Master Humphrey's Clock
Origin:
Manifold comes from the Old English word monigfald meaning "varied in appearance." The English suffix -fold originally meant "of so many parts."  

[Djana Nana]

primrose
PRIM-rohz , noun;
1. Pale yellow.
2. Any plant of the genus Primula, as P. vulgaris (English primrose), of Europe, having yellow flowers, or P. sinensis (Chinese primrose), of China, having flowers in a variety of colors. Compare primrose family.
3. Evening primrose.

Quotes:
The thoughts circling Sarah's head kept time with the rhythm of her spoon as she stirred the pale- primrose mixture of egg yolks and cream in the pan.
-- India Grey, Powerful Italian, Penniless Housekeeper
The room was high and white and primrose gold, flanked by Greek columns that caught the lickety amber light of a thousand candles.
-- Don DeLillo, Underworld
Origin:
Primrose literally meant "first rose" in Old French. It was so called because the yellow rose is one of the earliest blooming roses in the Spring.  

[Djana Nana]

cerise
suh-REES , noun;
1. moderate to deep red.

Quotes:
That it did not strike her, Molly Notkin, as improbable that the special limited-edition turkey-shaped gift bottle of Wild Turkey Blended Whiskey-brand distilled sprits with the cerise velveteen gift-ribbon around its neck with the bow tucked under its wattles on the kitchen counter...
-- David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest
It was made of a purple satin sheath with layers of cerise tarleton underskirts.
-- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Origin:
Cerise comes from the French word of the same spelling meaning "cherry." It entered English in the 1850s describing a shade of cherry red.  

[Nimessa]

Sinful Nana

cerise
suh-REES , noun;
1. moderate to deep red.

Quotes:
That it did not strike her, Molly Notkin, as improbable that the special limited-edition turkey-shaped gift bottle of Wild Turkey Blended Whiskey-brand distilled sprits with the cerise velveteen gift-ribbon around its neck with the bow tucked under its wattles on the kitchen counter...
-- David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest
It was made of a purple satin sheath with layers of cerise tarleton underskirts.
-- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Origin:
Cerise comes from the French word of the same spelling meaning "cherry." It entered English in the 1850s describing a shade of cherry red.

I really love that word. It's so cool.  

[Djana Nana]

celadon
SEL-uh-don , noun;
1. A pale gray-green.
2. Any of several Chinese porcelains having a translucent, pale green glaze.
3. Any porcelain imitating these.
adjective:
1. Having the color celadon.

Quotes:
The detail was striking and the cream, salmon, and celadon of the offset colors realistic, if slightly dated.
-- David Foster Wallace, The Pale King
Far out, the bay had a glaze like celadon.
-- Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose
Origin:
The word celadon stems from the name of a character in the 1610 book L'Astrée by Honoré d'Urfé. The character Céladon was a sentimental lover who wore bright green clothes.  

[Djana Nana]

heliotrope
HEE-lee-uh-trohp , noun;
1. A light tint of purple; reddish lavender.
2. Any hairy plant belonging to the genus Heliotropium, of the borage family, as H. arborescens, cultivated for its small, fragrant purple flowers.
3. Any of various other plants, as the valerian or the winter heliotrope.
4. Any plant that turns toward the sun.
5. Surveying . An arrangement of mirrors for reflecting sunlight from a distant point to an observation station.
6. Bloodstone.

Quotes:
But the heliotrope envelope with the feminine handwriting and the strange odor immediately suggested queries along lines of investigation which had never before entered her thoughts.
-- George Gibbs, The Vagrant Duke
Blown by steady volumes of roaring wind, everyone's hair is riffled and tangled and leaping in antic wisps, and the heliotrope robes bulk like tumors but flip up in sudden swoops.
-- Edmund White, Forgetting Elena
Origin:
Heliotrope literally meant "turn towards the sun" in Greek. Flowers that turned towards the sun became associated with this word.