Word of the Day
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.”
More about dullsville
Dullsville, originally an Americanism, is an obvious, self-explanatory compound. The suffix -ville comes from the French noun and suffix ville, -ville 鈥渃ity, town,鈥� a straightforward development of Latin villa 鈥渇armhouse, farm, estate.鈥� Both French and English use the suffix -ville to form placenames (nearly 20 percent of the toponyms, or placenames, in northern France end in -ville); American toponyms include Gainesville, Charlottesville, and Chancellorsville. French and English also use -ville to form derogatory or disparaging quasi-toponyms: French has bidonville 鈥渟hantytown,鈥� formed from bidon 鈥渕etal can, metal drum (used in constructing shanties).” American English has Hooverville, dating from the Great Depression of the 1930s, and named 鈥渋n honor of鈥� president Herbert Hoover; Squaresville, associated with the Beat Generation, dates from the mid-1950s; Hicksville dates from the early 1920s; dragsville dates from the mid-1960s; and dullsville (also Dullsville) from 1960.
how is dullsville used?
Just that it was another system that didn’t look particularly noteworthy. A star and some planets. No record of human presence. Dullsville, really.
I work in a big insurance office now, working in the customer enquiries department. No doubt this will sound a bit dullsville to you …