Word of the Day
beacon
noun
a person or thing that illuminates or inspires: The Bible has been our beacon during this trouble.
More about beacon
Beacon comes from Old English 产脓补肠别苍, 产脓肠别苍, 产脓肠苍 鈥渁 sign, portent; a standard, banner; a signal, signal fire, signal hill or tower, watchtower; lighthouse.鈥� (Most of these senses appear in Beowulf.) 叠脓补肠别苍 comes from Germanic baukna– 鈥渂eacon, signal,鈥� the source of Old Frisian 产腻办别苍, Old Saxon 产艒办补苍, Old High German bouhhan. The derivative Germanic verb bauknjan 鈥渢o make a sign, signal鈥� becomes 产脓肠苍an in Old English and beckon in English.
how is beacon used?
As is often the case with those who die young, Martin Luther King Jr. has become more symbol than man: pacifist, beacon of nonviolent racial reform.
At first sight we had not rated the American town favorably, but now it seemed聽a beacon of civilization.
More about langlauf
Langlauf, 鈥渃ross-country skiing, cross-country skiing race,鈥� is a German compound noun formed from the adjective lang, cognate with English long, and the noun Lauf 鈥渞un,鈥� related to English leap (from the Old English noun 丑濒测虅辫) and lope. Langlauf entered English in the 1920s.
how is langlauf used?
“Haven’t you got a boat that’ll cut through the ice?” … “It’s too thick to get through. Langlauf is the easiest way by far.”
Pontresina, a picture-book village tucked just around the mountain from imperious St. Moritz, turns out to be one of the best places in the world to do cross-country skiing鈥攐r langlauf as it鈥檚 known.
synonymous
adjective
equivalent in meaning; expressing or implying the same idea; having the character of synonyms or a synonym.
More about synonymous
Synonymous comes from the Medieval Latin adjective 蝉测苍艒苍测尘耻蝉, from Greek 蝉测苍峁搉测尘辞蝉 鈥渉aving the same name and nature and definition,鈥� a term that Aristotle uses in his logical system. 厂测苍峁搉测尘辞蝉 is a compound of the preposition and prefix syn, syn– 鈥渨ith, together with鈥� and the noun 贸苍测尘补, 贸苍辞尘补 鈥渘ame, word, noun.鈥� The English metaphysical poet John Donne is the first writer credited with using synonymous in English in 1610.
how is synonymous used?
But for a while there, Netflix was on its way to being like Kleenex or Coke鈥攁 brand name that becomes synonymous with an entire product (in this case, streaming video).
Over time, Instagram became synonymous聽with artfully posed, aspirational photos of everyday life.