This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for October 25–October 31, 2025

On October 28, Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica as a Category 5 storm. The catastrophic storm was the strongest in the island's history, battering it with 185-mile-per-hour winds and torrential rain. Melissa tore roofs off buildings, leveled homes, collapsed bridges, and caused widespread flooding and mudslides. Most households were left without electricity. As of Thursday afternoon, the death toll from the devastating storm had reached 28 across Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

Food aid advocates are urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to use its contingency reserves to continue funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during the ongoing government shutdown. Unless the agency dips into its emergency funds, estimated to be about $6 billion set aside to cover unexpected occurrences, millions of SNAP recipients won't receive their benefits in November. The anti-hunger program helps low-income individuals and families buy food.

Scientists used DNA evidence to deduce what led to the demise of at least some of Napoleon's soldiers in 1812 as they marched home after a failed military invasion of Russia. Hundreds of thousands of French troops died that winter, some from starvation and the frigid temperatures. The new research revealed other killers: Two kinds of disease-causing bacteria caused many to perish. Demise came to mean "death" from its original meaning of "transference of property upon death."

Experts say that falling birthrates worldwide are causing major demographic changes. In countries with the largest economies, a trend of having fewer children has resulted in smaller families and older populations: The median age rose from 28 in 1970 to a record high of 39. Economists worry these changes will force people to work longer before they can retire. Demographic is from demography, the study of human populations, and its Greek root dēmos, "people."

The U.S. is deploying an aircraft carrier to South America, escalating its military presence there. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford, an enormous warship that carries up to 90 aircraft, to the waters off the coast of Venezuela. The ship was previously deployed to support NATO allies in the Mediterranean Sea. The Latin displicare, "unfold or scatter," is the root of deploy, used as a military term since the 1780s.

A British botanical garden has been protecting seeds from extinction for 25 years. The Millennium Seed Bank's collection numbers over two billion, representing 40,000 plant species. The seeds were saved by volunteers in 100 countries. Scientists at the seed bank have developed methods to preserve and eventually germinate them, ensuring the banked seeds will eventually be able to sprout, grow, and flourish. Germinate is from the Latin germen, "a sprout."

Small U.S. towns are finding ways to lessen harmful pollution. Many, including Keene, New Hampshire, are mitigating damage from car emissions by replacing traditional intersections with roundabouts. Keene's air quality was once among New England's worst. Since the small city built seven circular intersections, in which cars keep moving slowly rather than stopping and starting, some harmful emissions have been reduced by 40 percent. The Latin root of mitigate means "soften."

Photographers in New Zealand captured astonishing images of an atmospheric phenomenon called red lightning. The unusual occurrences, also called "red sprites" or "jellyfish sprites," are caused by powerful thunderstorms sending out split-second bursts of electrical energy. Instead of moving toward the ground like lightning strikes, the sprites shoot up in columns, often with jellyfish-like "legs." As rare as they are, it's even more uncommon for the events to be captured on film.

Afghan women soccer players who fled the Taliban four years ago and have resettled in several countries are now playing for Afghan Women United. The team of refugees lost their first match to Chad in a tournament organized by FIFA, but their spirits remained high. The women, who were forced to leave their home country when the new regime banned women's sports in 2021, were happy to be playing the game they loved once more. Refugee is from refuge, or "shelter."

Researchers have finally surmounted a daunting challenge, ending the virus that kills more than 80 percent of juvenile elephants infected with it. A new vaccine developed by veterinary immunologists protects calves from elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus, or EEHV, which causes about half the deaths of young elephants in zoos. Defeating this devastating disease has been a longtime goal of scientists. Surmount is from the Old French surmonter, "rise above."