Word of the Day
prebuttal
noun
an argument constructed in anticipation of a criticism:聽The alderman began his speech with a question-answer style prebuttal.
More about prebuttal
Prebuttal is a clever combination of the prefix pre- 鈥渂efore鈥� and (re)buttal. It is equivalent to the Latin rhetorical term 辫谤辞濒脓辫蝉颈蝉 鈥渁nticipation in the form of a brief summary鈥� or Late Latin 辫谤辞肠补迟补濒脓辫蝉颈蝉 鈥渁nticipation and rebuttal of an opponent鈥檚 arguments,鈥� a borrowing from Greek 辫谤辞濒脓辫蝉颈蝉 鈥�(in rhetoric) anticipation鈥� and 辫谤辞办补迟谩濒脓辫蝉颈蝉 鈥渁nticipation and rebuttal of an opponent鈥檚 arguments.鈥� Former Vice President Al Gore seems to be the first person to use prebuttal in 1996.
how is prebuttal used?
President Clinton’s White House and campaign team have been drawing favorable reviews for their rapid response operation and penchant for picking off issues before Senate Majority Leader Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.) even gets his TelePrompTer warmed up. Vice President Gore calls it “prebuttal.”
Both in the short term and for posterity, Sotomayor’s work will serve as a prebuttal to what Chief Justice John Roberts and company are poised to do.
inculpate
verb
to involve in a charge;聽incriminate.
More about inculpate
Inculpate, like inflammable, is capable of two opposite meanings depending on whether you take in- to be a negative prefix (from the same Proto-Indo-European source as English un-) or an intensive prefix. If in- is the negative prefix, then inculpate means 鈥渦nblamed, blameless,鈥� the only meaning of the Latin 颈苍肠耻濒辫腻迟耻蝉 and a meaning that inculpate had in (and only in) 17th-century English. Likewise inflammable would mean 鈥渘ot flammable,鈥� a very common mistake in modern English. The in- in inculpate and inflammable is in fact the intensive in-; Late Latin 颈苍肠耻濒辫腻谤别 means 鈥渢o blame鈥�; 颈苍蹿濒补尘尘腻谤别 means 鈥渢o set on fire.鈥� The Romans, too, were confused by the two different prefixes: 颈苍补耻诲墨谤别 (in- here the intensive prefix) means 鈥渢o catch the sound of, get wind of, hear鈥�; its past participle 颈苍补耻诲墨迟耻蝉 (in- here the negative prefix) means 鈥渦nheard, unheard of, not listened to.鈥� Inculpate in the sense 鈥渢o blame鈥� entered English in the late 18th century.
how is inculpate used?
Then someone came into your room and placed the pistol there in order to inculpate you.
Their job was simply to get as much information as possible, which, along with corroborating evidence, would either inculpate the suspect or set him free.
More about roborant
Roborant comes from Latin 谤艒产辞谤补苍迟- (the stem of 谤艒产辞谤腻苍蝉), present participle of 谤艒产辞谤腻谤别 鈥渢o strengthen, invigorate,鈥� a derivative of the noun 谤艒产辞谤 (stem 谤艒产耻谤-) 鈥渙ak, oak tree.鈥� From 谤艒产辞谤腻谤别 Latin forms cor谤艒产辞谤腻谤别 鈥渢o strengthen, harden鈥� (English corroborate). Latin also has an archaic form 谤艒产耻蝉 for 谤艒产耻谤, and the archaic form clearly shows the source of Latin 谤艒产耻蝉tus 鈥渟trong, powerful鈥� (English robust). The Latin noun 谤艒产耻蝉 is akin to the adjective 谤艒产耻蝉 鈥渞ed鈥� and dialectal 谤奴蹿耻蝉 鈥渓ight red, fox red鈥� (English rufous), the noun 谤艒产墨驳艒 (also 谤奴产墨驳艒), stem 谤艒产墨驳颈苍- (谤奴产墨驳颈苍-) 鈥渞ust,鈥� and its derivative adjective 谤艒产墨驳颈苍艒蝉耻蝉 鈥渞usty鈥� (English rubiginous). Roborant entered English in the 17th century.
how is roborant used?
… they put him to bed in the rest room, where the doctor gave him a roborant injection.
The label, designed for the English speaking market, gives this description of its virtues: “Nutritious and roborant: promoting the brain and recovering the memory: strengthening the organs and systems of generations.”