/r/WordOfTheDay

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8

22 October 2024 Thanatopsis

Good morning! Today we’re bringing back Word of the Day for good!

In honor of my Mexican & Greek roots and my favorite holiday (Halloween & Day of the Dead) coming up, we’re going to start with some macabre.

Thanatopsis [than-uh-top-sis] :noun:

Meaning: a view, contemplation, or meditation on the subject of death; also (initial capital letter, italics) a poem (1817) by William Cullen Bryant.

Synonyms: Lament, Dirge, Elegy, Requiem, Monody, Threnody, Epicedium, Coronach, Knell, Mourning

Etymology: Thanat(o) is the combining form of thanatos meaning "death" or “the personification of death” in Greek; opsis from the Greek óopsis meaning "appearance” or “sight."

See also Thanatos, Thanatology, Euthanize.

“Thanatopsis,” by William Cullen Bryant as printed by The Poetry Foundation

     To him who in the love of Nature holds    Communion with her visible forms, she speaks    A various language; for his gayer hours    She has a voice of gladness, and a smile    And eloquence of beauty, and she glides    Into his darker musings, with a mild    And healing sympathy, that steals away    Their sharpness, ere he is aware. When thoughts    Of the last bitter hour come like a blight    Over thy spirit, and sad images    Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall,    And breathless darkness, and the narrow house,    Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart;—    Go forth, under the open sky, and list    To Nature’s teachings, while from all around— Earth and her waters, and the depths of air— Comes a still voice—                                        Yet a few days, and thee    The all-beholding sun shall see no more    In all his course; nor yet in the cold ground,    Where thy pale form was laid, with many tears,    Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist    Thy image. Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim    Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again, And, lost each human trace, surrendering up    Thine individual being, shalt thou go    To mix for ever with the elements,    To be a brother to the insensible rock    And to the sluggish clod, which the rude swain    Turns with his share, and treads upon. The oak    Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mould.        Yet not to thine eternal resting-place    Shalt thou retire alone, nor couldst thou wish    Couch more magnificent. Thou shalt lie down    With patriarchs of the infant world—with kings,    The powerful of the earth—the wise, the good,    Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past,    All in one mighty sepulchre.   The hills    Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun,—the vales    Stretching in pensive quietness between;    The venerable woods—rivers that move    In majesty, and the complaining brooks    That make the meadows green; and, poured round all,    Old Ocean’s gray and melancholy waste,—    Are but the solemn decorations all    Of the great tomb of man. The golden sun,    The planets, all the infinite host of heaven,    Are shining on the sad abodes of death,    Through the still lapse of ages. All that tread    The globe are but a handful to the tribes    That slumber in its bosom.—Take the wings    Of morning, pierce the Barcan wilderness,    Or lose thyself in the continuous woods    Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound,    Save his own dashings—yet the dead are there:    And millions in those solitudes, since first    The flight of years began, have laid them down    In their last sleep—the dead reign there alone. So shalt thou rest, and what if thou withdraw    In silence from the living, and no friend    Take note of thy departure? All that breathe    Will share thy destiny. The gay will laugh When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care    Plod on, and each one as before will chase    His favorite phantom; yet all these shall leave    Their mirth and their employments, and shall come And make their bed with thee. As the long train    Of ages glide away, the sons of men,    The youth in life’s green spring, and he who goes    In the full strength of years, matron and maid,    The speechless babe, and the gray-headed man—    Shall one by one be gathered to thy side,    By those, who in their turn shall follow them.        So live, that when thy summons comes to join    The innumerable caravan, which moves    To that mysterious realm, where each shall take    His chamber in the silent halls of death,    Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,    Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed    By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,    Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch    About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.

1 Comment
2024/10/22
15:02 UTC

16

Dysrationalia

Stanovich (2009) coined the term „dysrationalia” to describe the inability to think and behave rationally despite having adequate intelligence. Similar to the examples in the introduction, the irrational beliefs often take form of the epistemically suspect beliefs (ESB

Example: pick any Trumpian legal argument consisting of mostly nonsensical pretzel logic.

4 Comments
2024/02/08
18:12 UTC

39

28 May 2023: Parvenu (noun) - a person of obscure origin who has gained wealth, influence, or celebrity

5 Comments
2023/05/28
20:35 UTC

62

Magniloquent [mag·​nil·​o·​quent] :adjective:

Meaning: Speaking in or characterized by a high-flown often bombastic style or manner.

Synonyms: Bombastic, Pompous, Highfalutin etc.

Etymology: Magnus means "great" in Latin; loqui is a Latin verb meaning "to speak." Combine the two and you get magniloquus, the Latin predecessor of magniloquent.

4 Comments
2023/05/24
04:21 UTC

39

25 January 2023 - pandiculation | pan-ˌdik-yə-ˈlā-shən | a stretching and stiffening especially of the trunk and extremities

(n) particularly pertaining to fatigue or drowsiness, as when waking up after sleep

From the 1610s

Bonus:

from past-participle stem of Latin pandiculari "to stretch oneself," from pandere "to stretch" (from nasalized form of PIE root petə- "to spread").

2 Comments
2023/01/25
15:18 UTC

33

24 January 2023 - Eudaemonic: pertaining or conducive to happiness; producing happiness

Also eudemonic; from the Greek word eudaimonikos. First recorded usage in the early 1800s.

Bonus:

eu is a word forming element meaning “good, well”; originating from the Greek word eus

daimon is a transliteration of Greek daimōn, meaning “lesser god, guiding spirit, tutelary deity” (also related to demon)

Sources: www.etymonline.com www.collinsdictionary.com

0 Comments
2023/01/24
15:52 UTC

22

19th December, 2022 - dramaturgy - /drăm′ə-tûr″jē/ - the art of the theatre, especially the writing of plays

dramaturgy

n

  1. the art of the theatre, especially the writing of plays
  2. the science which treats the rules of dramatic composition and representation; the dramatic art.

I think this kind of dramaturgy difficult to plan ahead in a concept stage of a game.

wordnik

0 Comments
2022/12/19
09:34 UTC

45

Fancy word for slinging BS

tergiversation

PRONUNCIATION:

(tuhr-ji-vuhr-SAY-shuhn)

  1. Misleading, evasive, or ambiguous speech or action.

  2. Desertion of a party, position, cause, etc.

Those already disposed to believe in him are unmoved by his tergiversations; those who are not already on the Trump Train are further repelled by them.

6 Comments
2022/07/21
22:38 UTC

41

30th June, 2022 - Erudite -\ ˈer-ə-ˌdīt \ - having or showing knowledge that is gained by studying

Erudite

adjective

  1. having or containing a lot of knowledge that is known by very few people: possessing or displaying erudition

  2. A person with extensive knowledge acquired chiefly from books : profound, recondite, or bookish learning

"The most erudite people in medical research attended the conference".

cambridge || merriam-webster

0 Comments
2022/07/01
00:23 UTC

34

16th April, 2022 - Cloying -\ ˈklȯi-iŋ \ - disgusting or distasteful by reason of excess

Cloying

adjective

  1. disgusting or distasteful by reason of excess, unpleasantly excessive.

  2. excessively sweet or sentimental, expressing feelings of love or kindness in a way that is annoying because it does not seem real

"The cloyingly sweet candy was so sugary that it culled the children's desire after a few sickening bites."

"She criticized the overly cloying sentimentality of the romance movie."

cambridge || merriam-webster

0 Comments
2022/04/16
16:07 UTC

41

14th April, 2022 - Veracity -\ və-ˈra-sə-tē \ - conformity with truth or fact : accuracy

Veracity

noun

  1. Consistency with truth; agreement with actual fact: as, the veracity of the senses.

  2. That which is true; that in which truth inheres; also, abstract truth.

  3. Power of conveying or perceiving truth

"Officials expressed doubts concerning the veracity of the story".

wordnik || merriam-webster

1 Comment
2022/04/14
16:10 UTC

66

defenestration

defenestration [ dee-fen-uh-strey-shuhn ] noun

  1. the act of throwing a person or thing out of a window:

  2. the act of suddenly removing someone from an important position or office:

Putin will just commit suicide by forcefully pushing himself out a window.

6 Comments
2022/02/23
13:59 UTC

41

Desiderata

de·sid·er·a·tum/dəˌzidəˈrädəm/ 📷Learn to pronounce

nounplural noun: desiderata

  1. something that is needed or wanted."integrity was a desideratum"
4 Comments
2022/02/18
13:55 UTC

35

melangeur

me·​lan·​geur | \ ˌmāˌläⁿˈzhər(‧), -änˈjər(‧) \

plural -s

: a power-driven machine in which chocolate paste is mixed with sugar and flavoring and reduced to a fine smooth consistency

5 Comments
2022/02/16
21:42 UTC

30

Maskirovka

maskirovka

(ˌmæskɪˈrɒvkə)

noun the use, by Russia or the former Soviet Union, of military deception intended to confuse Western intelligence

Wasn't it outlined in "Hypernormalisation" that "non-linear warfare" was essentially Putin's strategy. Maybe an evolution of maskirovka or "deep battle".

Basically to "keep your opponent guessing".

2 Comments
2022/02/15
13:06 UTC

32

Rasputitsa.

Rasputitsa -

[Russian: 'season of bad roads']The brief period in spring when there is a rapid thaw of lying snow and frozen ground.

Yes, "rasputitsa" (распутица) means season of bad roads! Gotta get those tanks in Ukraine before the thaw.

Over a dozen Russian tanks stuck in the mud during military exercise in the Rostov Region that borders Ukraine (Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts).

https://defence-blog.com/over-a-dozen-russian-tanks-stuck-in-the-mud-during-military-exercise/

2 Comments
2022/02/14
01:41 UTC

15

November 4, 2021 - Schllack - To run a long distance

Schllack

v

  1. To run a long distance

I can't wait to get home and schllack.

5 Comments
2022/02/07
14:18 UTC

46

11th May, 2021 - Surreptitious - kept secret, especially because it would not be approved of

kept secret, especially because it would not be approved of. "low wages were supplemented by surreptitious payments from tradesmen" synonyms: secret · stealthy · clandestine · secretive · sneaky · sly · furtive · concealed · hidden · undercover · covert · veiled · under the table · cloak-and-dagger · backstair · indirect · black

1 Comment
2021/05/11
19:15 UTC

37

April 8th, 2021 - Moribund - of a person at point of death

(of a person) at the point of death. "on examination she was moribund and dehydrated" synonyms: dying · expiring · on one's deathbed · near death · near the end · at death's door · breathing one's last · fading/sinking fast · [More] (of a thing) in terminal decline; lacking vitality or vigour. "the moribund commercial property market" synonyms: declining · in decline · on the decline · waning · dying · stagnating · stagnant · decaying · crumbling · atrophying · obsolescent · on its last legs · on the way out

2 Comments
2021/05/08
20:55 UTC

33

3rd May, 2021 - Parturition - the act of giving birth to young

synonyms: childbirth · giving birth · birth · birthing · delivery · labour · confinement · childbed · accouchement · travail

8 Comments
2021/05/03
17:19 UTC

31

27th April, 2021 - Seminal - strongly influencing later developments

seminal [ˈsɛmɪn(ə)l] ADJECTIVE

strongly influencing later developments. "his seminal work on chaos theory"

synonyms: influential · formative · groundbreaking · pioneering · original · creative · innovative · imaginative · productive · major · important

relating to or denoting semen. "the spermatozoa are washed to separate them from the seminal plasma" synonyms: spermatic · sperm · seed · spermatozoal · spermatozoan

botany relating to or derived from the seed of a plant. "the seminal root system"

1 Comment
2021/04/27
17:24 UTC

31

I'm looking for participants to rate a list of words on the variable "meaningfulness". Will you help?

Hi everyone!

Thank you to the moderator for allowing me to post this here. I am a graduate student and researcher at the University of Windsor and I am doing a study on the meaning of words! It matters for the way that we acquire language.

I am looking people to rate a list of 60 words on how meaningful each word is.

If you are interested in helping, please visit https://wordrater.ca

Thank you and have a great day!

14 Comments
2021/04/21
00:52 UTC

36

17th, April 2021 - Effervescent - high spirited; vivacious

  1. (Chemistry) (of a liquid) giving off bubbles of gas; bubbling

  2. high-spirited; vivacious

2 Comments
2021/04/17
13:44 UTC

33

15th, April 2021 - Mien - Air or bearing

Definition of mien 1: air or bearing especially as expressive of attitude or personality : DEMEANOR

of aristocratic mien

of somber mien

the mien of a choirboy

1 Comment
2021/04/15
02:54 UTC

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