Word of the Day
decoration
noun
a badge, medal, etc., conferred and worn as a mark of honor: a decoration for bravery.
More about decoration
English decoration is a straightforward borrowing from Late Latin 诲别肠辞谤腻迟颈艒 (inflectional stem 诲别肠辞谤腻迟颈艒n-) 鈥渁dornment, ornament,鈥� a derivative of the verb 诲别肠辞谤腻谤别. 顿别肠辞谤腻谤别 in turn derives from decor– (inflectional stem of decus) 鈥渁n ornament, splendor, honor.鈥� Decus is related to the verbs 诲别肠脓谤别 鈥渢o be acceptable, be fitting鈥� and 诲辞肠脓谤别 鈥渢o teach,鈥� i.e., 鈥渢o make fitting.鈥� Decoration entered English in the 16th century.
how is decoration used?
He was later awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation鈥檚 highest military decoration ….
In short order, White won a Rhodes scholarship, became the best-paid player of his era in the National Football League and its rushing champion and earned decorations for his wartime Navy service.
seriatim
adverb, adjective
in a series; one after another.
More about seriatim
The English adverb seriatim 鈥渙ne after another, in a series,鈥� comes directly from the Medieval Latin adverb 蝉别谤颈腻迟颈尘, which has the same meaning. 厂别谤颈腻迟颈尘 is composed of the Latin noun 蝉别谤颈脓蝉 鈥渓ine, series鈥� and the adverb suffix –腻迟颈尘, extracted from Latin adverbs like grad腻迟颈尘 鈥渂y steps, ascending or descending gradually,鈥� and cert腻迟颈尘 鈥渋n rivalry, emulously.鈥� The suffix is a useful one, forming adverbs like liter腻迟颈尘 鈥渓iterally, letter for letter, literatim,鈥� and verb腻迟颈尘 鈥渓iterally, word for word, verbatim.鈥� Seriatim entered English in the late 15th century.
how is seriatim used?
I鈥檝e been reading all the 鈥淒oonesbury鈥� strips from the fall of 1976 through January of 1980, seriatim.
This is no place to list his achievements, nor need his failures be set down聽seriatim.
hermitage
noun
any secluded place of residence or habitation; retreat; hideaway.
More about hermitage
The history of the English noun hermitage is complicated by the unetymological h-. Middle English and Old French have both hermitage and ermitage (and many other spellings). Late Latin (in a 5th-century Christian author) has 别谤脓尘墨迟补 (correctly) 鈥渆remite, hermit,鈥� from Greek 别谤脓尘墨虂迟脓蝉, a very rare noun and adjective meaning 鈥渙f the desert,鈥� and first occurring in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible dating from the 3rd century b.c.) in the Book of Job. The Greek noun (and therefore the Latin, too) is a derivative of 别谤锚尘辞蝉 (also 茅谤脓尘辞蝉), an adjective and noun meaning 鈥渟olitary, desolate, lonely; a desert.鈥� The spellings h别谤脓尘墨迟补 and its derivative h别谤脓尘墨迟补gium 鈥渉ermitage鈥� first appear in Medieval Latin. Hermitage entered English in the late 13th century.
how is hermitage used?
… I had found out for myself a little hermitage. It was a kind of leafy cave, high upward into the air, among the midmost branches of a white-pine tree.
In the end, the legend holds, Lancelot goes to live in penitence in a hermitage, while the king, mortally wounded, is set adrift on a ship鈥攖o one day rise again.