Word of the Day
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 …
More about temerity
Temerity ultimately comes from the Latin noun 迟别尘别谤颈迟腻蝉 (inflectional stem 迟别尘别谤颈迟腻迟-) 鈥渞ashness, recklessness, thoughtlessness.鈥� The Latin noun is a derivative of the adverb 迟别尘别谤脓 (with the same meanings), and 迟别尘别谤脓 in form is a fossil form of an assumed noun temus (stem temer-) 鈥渄arkness鈥� and meant 鈥渋n the dark, blindly.鈥� The Latin forms come from a Proto-Indo-European root teme- 鈥渄ark,鈥� with a suffixed noun form temesra 鈥渄补谤办苍别蝉蝉.鈥� Temesra in Latin becomes tenebrae (plural noun) 鈥渄arkness鈥� (source of tenebrous). The Latin name for the River Thames is Tamesis (Tamesa), adapted from a local Celtic language in which Tamesas means 鈥渄ark river.鈥� Temerity entered English in the 15th century.
how is temerity used?
… he was taken aback by skeptical reviews that had the temerity to question his research methods or his conclusions.
The guys off the docks at the port who came in looking for engagement rings and wedding rings for their girlfriends would sometimes have the temerity to take the salesgirl’s hand in order to examine the stone up close.