Word of the Day: Jabberwock

Jab·ber·wock  [jab-er-wok] noun, plural -wock·ies, adjective n. 1. A playful imitation of language consisting of invented, meaningless words; nonsense; gibberish. 2. An example of writing or speech consisting of or containing meaningless words. adj. 3. Consisting of or comparable to Jabberwocky; meaningless; senseless. Also, Jab·ber·wock·y   [jab-er-wok-ee] [Origin: coined by Lewis Carroll in Jabberwocky, poem in Through the Looking… Continue reading Word of the Day: Jabberwock

Word of the Day: Haustellum

haus·tel·lum [haw-stel-uhm] n. plural haus·tel·la [haw-stel-uh] (in certain crustaceans and insects) an organ or part of the proboscis adapted for sucking blood or plant juices. My grandpa used to give me words like this to lookup in his 50 million pound dictionary. The thing smelled like leather and dirt and coffee and pipe smoke. Did I mention it was heavy? So why is haustellum a word my grandpa would have “assigned” to me? Because… Continue reading Word of the Day: Haustellum

Word of the Day: Elephantiasis

el·e·phan·ti·a·sis   [el-uh-fuhn-tahy-uh-sis, -fan-] n. 1.Pathology . a chronic filarial disease resulting in lymphatic obstruction, characterized by marked enlargement of the parts affected, esp. of the legs and scrotum, transmitted by mosquitoes. 2.Untoward growth or development: bureaucratic elephantiasis. [Origin: 1575–85; < L < Gk elephantíāsis, equiv. to elephant- elephant + -iāsis -iasis] The first thing I… Continue reading Word of the Day: Elephantiasis

Word of the Day: Dacryon

dac·ry·on [dak-ree-on] –noun, plural -ry·a [-ree-uh] Anatomy . The point of junction of the maxillary, lacrimal, and frontal bones. [Origin: 1875–80; < NL < Gk dákryon a tear (var. of dákry ); see dacryo-] To be extremely blunt, if you have this your face doesn’t fall off. You don’t have this, you won’t want …

Word of the Day: Birthday

birth·day   [burth-dey] n. 1. The anniversary of a birth. 2. The day of a person’s birth. 3. A day marking or commemorating the origin, founding, or beginning of something. 4. The festivities or celebration marking such a day or anniversary. [Origin: 1350–1400; ME; see birth, day] Last night I thought I’d make this a weekly… Continue reading Word of the Day: Birthday