Word of the Day
popinjay
noun
a person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter.
More about popinjay
The many spellings of popinjay, e.g., papejay, popingay, papinjai in Middle English, in medieval Romance languages, and in medieval Germanic languages, demonstrate the foreign, exotic origin of the term, let alone the bird. The English change of the final syllable from –gay to –jay may be by folk etymology, through association with the jay, the name of several kinds of raucous, lively birds of the crow family. Medieval Latin has papagallus, whose first half, papa-, may be imitative of the bird鈥檚 cry; the second half, gallus, is the ordinary Latin noun for 鈥渞ooster, cock.鈥� Papagallus comes from medieval Greek 辫补辫补驳谩濒濒辞蝉, itself a derivative of 辫补辫补驳谩蝉, from Arabic 产补产驳丑腻鈥�, 产补产产补驳丑腻鈥�, which is imitative of the bird鈥檚 cry. Popinjay entered English in the 13th century in the now obsolete sense of a picture or representation of a parrot (as on a tapestry).
how is popinjay used?
… Matt Damon brings preening fun to a popinjay in spurs and suede fringe; his throwaway lines and sidelong glances finally realize the comic promise the character always possessed.
The Prince of Wales (Rupert Everett) is a nasty popinjay, and George’s prime minister, Pitt the Younger … a manipulative cold fish.
perspicacity
noun
keenness of mental perception and understanding; discernment; penetration.
More about perspicacity
Perspicacity ultimately comes from the Late Latin noun 辫别谤蝉辫颈肠腻肠颈迟腻蝉 (inflectional stem 辫别谤蝉辫颈肠腻肠颈迟腻迟-) 鈥渟harp-sightedness, discernment,鈥� a derivative of the Latin adjective 辫别谤蝉辫颈肠腻虫 (inflectional stem 辫别谤蝉辫颈肠腻肠-) 鈥渟harp-sighted, penetrating, acute.鈥� 笔别谤蝉辫颈肠腻虫 is a derivative of the verb perspicere 鈥渢o inspect thoroughly, examine, look through, see through.鈥� The prefix per– here is both literal (鈥渢o see or look through鈥�) and intensive (鈥渢o examine thoroughly鈥�). The combining form –spicere comes from specere 鈥渢o see, observe, keep an eye on,鈥� a Latin derivative of the Proto-Indo-European root spek-, spok– 鈥渓ook at closely, examine.鈥� Greek metathesizes the root to skep– and skop– (as in the English derivatives skeptic and horoscope). The Germanic form of the root, speh-, is the source of English spy and espionage. Perspicacity entered English in the 16th century.
how is perspicacity used?
How well she deceived her father we shall have occasion to learn; but her innocent arts were of little avail before a person of the rare perspicacity of Mrs. Penniman.
This early work shows that Saramago had yet to achieve his radical style, but his perspicacity and wit were already fully formed.
blossom
verb
to flourish; develop: a writer of commercial jingles who blossomed out into an important composer.
More about blossom
Blossom in both the noun and the verb senses dates back to Old English. The Old English verb 产濒艒蝉迟尘颈补苍 鈥渢o bloom, blossom, effloresce鈥� is a derivative of the noun 产濒艒蝉迟尘, 产濒艒蝉迟尘a, 产濒艒蝉尘补 鈥渂lossom, flower.鈥� The English words blossom, bloom, and blow (鈥渁 yield or display of blossoms鈥�) are all Germanic derivatives of the Proto-Indo-European root bhel-, 产丑濒脓-, 产丑濒艒– (and other variants) 鈥渢o thrive, bloom.鈥� In Latin the root appears in 蹿濒艒蝉 (inflectional stem 蹿濒艒谤-) 鈥渇lower鈥� (which via Old French yields English flower, flour, and flourish). English florescent comes straight from Latin 蹿濒艒谤escent-, the inflectional stem of 蹿濒艒谤esc膿ns, the present participle of 蹿濒艒谤escere 鈥渢o come into bloom.鈥� Other English derivatives from Latin include floral and folium 鈥渓eaf,鈥� which becomes, again through Old French, English foil. Greek has the noun 辫丑媒濒濒辞苍 鈥渓eaf,鈥� whose most common English derivative is probably chlorophyll.
how is blossom used?
… the beauty of their island only blossomed the further through time they moved away from it.
This bit of utilitarian Web ephemera [the hashtag], invented with functionality squarely in mind, has聽blossomed聽into聽a marvelous and underappreciated literary device.