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Word of the day

accouterment \uh-KOO-ter-muhnt\

noun:

1. personal clothing, accessories, etc.
2. the equipment, excluding weapons and clothing, of a soldier.
 
saxicoline \sak-SIK-uh-lin\

adjective:

1. living or growing among rocks.
 
olio \OH-lee-oh\

noun:

1. a mixture of heterogeneous elements; hodgepodge.
2. a dish of many ingredients.
 
saurian \SAWR-ee-uhn\

adjective:

1. resembling a lizard.
2. belonging or pertaining to the Sauria, a group of reptiles originally including the lizards, crocodiles, and several extinct forms but now technically restricted to the lizards.
 
noctambulous \nok-TAM-byuh-luh s\

adjective:

1. of, relating to, or given to sleepwalking.
 
entelechy \en-TEL-uh-kee\

noun:

1. a realization or actuality as opposed to a potentiality.
2. (in vitalist philosophy) a vital agent or force directing growth and life.
 
boomlet \BOOM-lit\

noun:

1. a brief increase, as in business activity or political popularity.
 
argonaut AHR-guh-nawt, -not\

noun:

1. (sometimes initial capital letter) a person in quest of something dangerous but rewarding; adventurer.
2. (initial capital letter) Classical Mythology. a member of the band of men who sailed to Colchis with Jason in the ship Argo in search of the Golden Fleece.
 
twitterpated \TWIT-er-pey-tid\

adjective:

1. Informal. excited or overcome by romantic feelings; smitten.
 
With the excitement of yesterday's travel and celebrating our anniversary I forgot to post a WotD. Here is yesterday's.

polysemy \POL-ee-see-mee, puh-LIS-uh-mee\

noun:

1. diversity of meanings.
 
chiliad \KIL-ee-ad\

noun:

1. a group of 1000.
2. a period of 1000 years.
 
ballyhoo \BAL-ee-hoo\

noun:

1. a clamorous and vigorous attempt to win customers or advance any cause; blatant advertising or publicity.
2. clamor or outcry.
 
atrabilious \a-truh-BIL-yuh s\

adjective:

1. gloomy; morose; melancholy; morbid.
2. irritable; bad-tempered; splenetic.
 
mondegreen \MON-di-green\

noun:

1. a misinterpretation of a word or phrase that has been heard, especially a song lyric.


Origin
Mondegreen is itself a mondegreen. The term was coined by American writer Sylvia Wright in a 1954 article for Harper's in which she explained that as a child, she'd misinterpreted a line of a Scottish ballad; instead of “And laid him on the green” she heard “And Lady Mondegreen.”
 
psephology \see-FOL-uh-jee\

noun:

1. the study of elections.
 
mellifluous \muh-LIF-loo-uh s\

adjective:

1. sweetly or smoothly flowing; sweet-sounding: a mellifluous voice; mellifluous tones.
2. flowing with honey; sweetened with or as if with honey.
 
ambisinister \am-bi-SIN-uh-ster\

adjective:

1. clumsy or unskillful with both hands.
 
burble \BUR-buh l\

verb:

1. to speak in an excited manner; babble.
2. to make a bubbling sound; bubble.
 
heliolatry \hee-lee-OL-uh-tree\

noun:

1. worship of the sun.
 
auroral \aw-RAWR-uh l, aw-ROHR-, uh-RAWR-, uh-ROHR-\

adjective:

1. of or like the dawn.
2. pertaining to the aurora borealis or aurora australis.
 
brickbat \BRIK-bat\

noun:

1. an unkind or unfavorable remark; caustic criticism: The critics greeted the play with brickbats.
2. a piece of broken brick, especially one used as a missile.
 
festinate \FES-tuh-neyt\

verb:
1. to hurry; hasten.

adjective:
1. hurried.
 
eleemosynary \el-uh-MOS-uh-ner-ee\

adjective:

1. of or relating to alms, charity, or charitable donations; charitable.
2. derived from or provided by charity.
 
beatify \bee-AT-uh-fahy\

verb:

1. to make blissfully happy.
2. Roman Catholic Church. to declare (a deceased person) to be among the blessed and thus entitled to specific religious honor.
 
laconic \luh-KON-ik\

adjective:

1. using few words; expressing much in few words; concise: a laconic reply.
 
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