Joel

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 31, 2009 is:

homogeneous • \hoh-muh-JEEN-yus\  • adjective
1 : of the same or a similar kind or nature *2 : of uniform structure or composition throughout

Example sentence:
"In my opinion the solar system is a solid homogeneous body; the planets which compose it are in actual contact with each other." (Jules Verne, From the Earth to the Moon)

Did you know?
The scientific theories of Jules Verne's bold French adventurer, Michel Ardan, might have been a bit flawed (it's more accurate to classify the solar system as "heterogenous" -- that is, consisting of dissimilar ingredients or constituents), but his use of the English word "homogeneous" was perfectly correct. "Homogeneous," which derives from the Greek roots "homos," meaning "same," and "genos," meaning "kind," has been used in English since the mid-1600s. The similar word "homogenous" (originally created for the science of genetics and used with the meaning "of, relating to, or derived from another individual of the same species") can also be a synonym of "homogeneous." The words need not be used exclusively in scientific contexts -- one can speak of, for example, "a homogenous/homogeneous community."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 30, 2009 is:

canaille • \kuh-NYE\  • noun
*1 : rabble, riffraff 2 : proletarian

Example sentence:
"I am not going to write for [the New York Weekly] -- like all other papers that pay one splendidly, it circulates among stupid people & the canaille." (Mark Twain, letter, June 1, 1867)

Did you know?
For a creature said to be man’s best friend, the dog doesn’t get a whole lot of respect in the English language. Something that has "gone to the dogs," for example, has gone to ruin, and the Britishism "dog’s breakfast" means a confused mess of something. The word "canaille," which debuted in English in the 17th century, shows that we have no qualms about associating dogs with the lower levels of human society; it derives via French from Italian "canaglia," and ultimately from "canis," the Latin word for "dog." "Canis," of course, is also the source of "canine," meaning "of or relating to dogs or to the family to which they belong."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 29, 2009 is:

ominous • \AH-muh-nus\  • adjective
: being or exhibiting an omen : portentous; especially : foreboding or foreshadowing evil : inauspicious

Example sentence:
Our fears about the picnic being cancelled were heightened by the sight of dark, ominous clouds appearing over the horizon.

Did you know?
"Ominous" didn't always mean "foreshadowing evil." If you look closely, you can see the "omen" in "ominous," which gave it the original meaning of "presaging events to come" -- whether good or bad. It is ultimately derived from the Latin word "omen," which is both an ancestor and a synonym of our "omen." Today, however, "ominous" tends to suggest a menacing or threatening aspect. Its synonyms "portentous" and "fateful" are used similarly, but "ominous" is the most menacing of the three. It implies an alarming character that foreshadows evil or disaster. "Portentous" suggests being frighteningly big or impressive, but seldom gives a definite forewarning of calamity. "Fateful" implies that something is of momentous or decisive importance.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 28, 2009 is:

ergogenic • \ur-guh-JEN-ik\  • adjective
: enhancing physical performance

Example sentence:
"New to this edition are chapters for rowers and a review of ergogenic aids, such as protein supplements and other products…." (Anne Stein, Chicago Tribune, June 3, 2007)

Did you know?
No matter your profession -- be it office worker, athlete, physicist, or poet -- "ergon," the Greek word for "work," has generated a word for you to work into your vocabulary. There is "ergonomics," which concerns efficiently and safely designing things that people use -- for example, office equipment. Then there is our featured word, "ergogenic," which might crop up in a discussion about improving athletic performance. The physicist's mind is likely to think in "ergs," or centimeter-gram-second units of work. And for those of the literary, or even agricultural, bent, there is "georgic," which combines "ergon" with Greek "geō-," meaning "earth," and refers to a poem dealing with agriculture or to the activity of agriculture itself. The most common derivative, however, is "energy," which adds Greek "en," meaning "in," to "ergon."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 27, 2009 is:

Sturm und Drang • \shtoorm-unt-DRAHNG\  • noun
: turmoil

Example sentence:
The new film deftly captures the Sturm und Drang of growing up as it chronicles the turbulent lives of two teens in postwar Germany.

Did you know?
“Sturm und Drang” comes from German, where it literally means “storm and stress.” Although it’s now a generic synonym of “turmoil,” the term was originally used in English to identify a late 18th-century German literary movement whose works were filled with rousing action and high emotionalism, and often dealt with an individual rebelling against the injustices of society. The movement took its name from the 1776 play Sturm und Drang, a work by one of its proponents, dramatist and novelist Friedrich von Klinger. Although the literary movement was well known in Germany in the late 1700s, the term “Sturm und Drang” didn’t appear in English prose until the mid-1800s.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 26, 2009 is:

two-bit • \TOO-BIT\  • adjective
1 : of the value of two bits *2 : cheap or trivial of its kind : petty, small-time

Example sentence:
Eliana had only a two-bit role in the musical, but her enchanting voice and beauty magnified her presence on stage.

Did you know?
The first definition of "two-bit" makes its etymology obvious: it is derived from the noun "two bits." However, "two bits" is an interesting phrase because it actually means "the value of a quarter of a dollar." There is no such thing as a single bit, at least not anymore. The now obsolete Spanish dollar was composed of eight reals, or eight bits, so a quarter of the dollar equaled two bits. The phrase "two bits" carried over into U.S. usage, though there's no bit coin in U.S. currency. "Two bits" first appeared in print in English in 1730 (and later developed the figurative sense of "something of small worth or importance"), followed in 1802 by its adjectival relative. These days, the adjective has far surpassed the noun in popularity.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 25, 2009 is:

wassail • \WAH-sul\  • verb
1 : to indulge in riotous drinking 2 dialect England : to sing carols from house to house at Christmas *3 : to drink to the health or thriving of

Example sentence:
The farmer and his revelers wassailed the apple orchard, hoping for another fruitful season, and then merrily poured cider around the trees.

Did you know?
The salutation "wassail," from the Old Norse toast "ves heill" ("be well"), has accompanied English toast-making since the 12th century. By the 13th century, "wassail" was being used for the drink itself, and it eventually came to be used especially of a hot drink (of wine, beer, or cider with spices, sugar, and usually baked apples) drunk around Christmastime. This beverage warmed the stomachs and hearts of many Christmas revelers and was often shared with Christmas carolers. The verb "wassail" was first used in the 14th century to describe the carousing associated with indulgence in the drink; later, it was used of other activities associated with wassail and the holiday season, like caroling. Seventeenth-century farmers added cattle and trees to the wassail tradition by drinking to their health or vitality during wintertime festivities.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 24, 2009 is:

malleable • \MAL-ee-uh-bul\  • adjective
*1 : capable of being extended or shaped by beating with a hammer or by the pressure of rollers 2 a : capable of being altered or controlled by outside forces or influences b : having a capacity for adaptive change

Example sentence:
Grandma took the cookie dough out of the refrigerator and allowed it to soften to a consistency that was firm yet malleable.

Did you know?
There is a hint about the origins of "malleable" in its first definition. The earliest uses of the word, which first appeared in English in the 14th century, referred primarily to metals that could be reshaped by beating with a hammer. The Middle English word "malliable" comes to us from Medieval Latin "malleabilis," which in turn derives from the Latin verb "malleare," meaning "to hammer." "Malleare" itself was created from the Latin word for "hammer": "malleus." If you have guessed that "maul" and "mallet," other English words for specific types of hammers, can also be traced back to "malleus," you have hit the nail on the head.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.