Whenever possible we like our nouns to have related verbs and adjectives so that we might benefit from reduced storage space in our overtaxed brains. No such luck in the case of turpitude, a standalone descendant from Latin turpitudo, "base, vile." Turpitude is the condition of being depraved, or rarely as a count noun, an act of depravity. Its favorite left-hand companion is moral.
Visual Thesaurus Word of the Day
Sunday, November 1st
turpitude
Bottom Feeder's Word of the Day:
Monday, November 2nd
chthonic
Down Yonder Word of the Day:
It's fashionable to blame Greece for a lot of things these days but we can't blame them, or their ancient ancestors, for the peculiar spelling of this word from an ancient Greek root that meant "earth." Transliterators were just doing their letter-for-letter job. Chthonic finds work today mainly in literary contexts, where it characterizes things of the underworld. More manageable synonyms include infernal and nether.
Tuesday, November 3rd
meniscus
Tearing Up the Joint Word of the Day:
This wee but vital part of your anatomy is not likely to come to your attention except in the breach — that would be a literal breach, which is usually called a tear when the meniscus is involved. It's a crescent-shaped bit of cartilage separating the bones in a joint, especially the knee. The word is from a Greek diminutive for moon; in other words, a crescent, which is roughly the shape of the meniscus in the knee.
Wednesday, November 4th
potentate
You're the Top! Word of the Day:
No one actually runs for office to be elected as a potentate since that strategy would probably fail. Clever leaders who achieve the status normally do so only after power is consolidated. Potentate, a powerful leader, is an obvious derivative of potent. Both words are from Latin. Though the thing it designates surely existed long before, potentate only settled in English in the 15th century.
Thursday, November 5th
neurosis
It's Just Nerves Word of the Day:
Feeling a bit off lately? If that's you all the time, it could be that you have a neurosis, that is, a mental or emotional disorder that affects only part of the personality. The word has existed in English since the 18th century. It has now fallen from fashion as an official diagnosis, a steep fall from the heyday it enjoyed when Freud was all the rage. Neurosis is from the same Greek root that gives is neuron and nerve.
Friday, November 6th
buffet
Blow Me Down Word of the Day:
It's not lunchtime and we're not choosing from a selection of dishes set out on a table. Today we salute the other buffet, the one we usually use as a verb and participle today (as in buffeted by high winds) but that derives from an earlier and now mostly obsolete noun buffet, which meant "blow" or something that strikes with force. Both buffets are from French. Today's buffet is from the French noun buffe.
Saturday, November 7th
sextant
Not What You Think Word of the Day:
It's refreshing to know that not all words beginning with sex need be a cause for blushing, and sextant is one of them. Its root is Latin sextus, "sixth," and it's formed on the same basis as quadrant, "fourth." A sextant is a nautical instrument that was used for determining geographic location, back in the day before satellites did that for us. The scale on a sextant has the length of one sixth of a circle (i.e., 60 degrees), hence the name.
Sunday, November 8th
anima
All About You Word of the Day:
Ego nearly always gets a bad rap so you may find that anima is a better choice for talking about the real you: the inner you, that is, stripped of the conveniences of personality — the bit of you that is properly called the persona. Both anima and persona are part of the lingo of psychologist C. G. Jung. Anima, sometimes contrasted with animus, is from Latin for breath, spirit, vital force.
Monday, November 9th
lunatic
Crazy Idea Word of the Day:
If you find that your grip on reality fluctuates with the phases of the moon you might consider describing yourself as a lunatic. Though it is not likely to win you any friends, you would be etymologically correct, since lunacy (that is, insanity) was once thought to be related to phases of the moon. Lunatic is one of several moon-related words from Latin luna, including lunar and sublunary.
Tuesday, November 10th
obelisk
Up to a Point Word of the Day:
Perhaps not all pictures are worth a thousand words but a picture of an obelisk is certainly worth a dozen or more — the dozen or more words that dictionaries use to define obelisk, because seeing one is a bit easier than deciphering "a stone pillar having a rectangular cross section tapering towards a pyramidal top." Obelisk is ultimately from a Greek word for "pointed pillar."
Wednesday, November 11th
samurai
Soldier On! Word of the Day:
English borrowed samurai from Japanese more or less intact to denote a warrior who was a member of a feudal aristocracy. You don't see many around today but their legend lives on in many filmic adaptations. The word in Japanese is made up of roots that mean "serve" or "wait watchfully."
