A Pound of Thoughts

Aquí es la palabra español para esta día. ¡Goce!

cerrar, verb:
to close

No cierran al mediodía.
They don’t close at noon.But did you know that you also use cerrar to say turn off things like a faucet or the gas?

Cierra la llave.
Turn off the faucet.By the way, to say lock something in Spanish, say cerrar con llave (word for word, close with key.)

Cerré la puerta con llave.
I locked the door.Source:  Dictionary.com

aborning \uh-BOR-ning\, adverb:
1. While being produced or born.

adjective:
1. Being produced or born.

Origin:  Aborning is derived from a-, “in the act of” + English dialect borning, “birth.”

Example Sentence:

In universities at least as much as anywhere else, vast floods of words pour forth to no useful end. Nothing would be lost if they had died aborning.
– Loren Lomasky, “Talking the talk: Have universities lost sight of why they exist?”, Reason, May 2001

Source:  Dictionary.com

My wife is currently taking Spanish III, and I took Spanish I & II in college.  So, in order to brush up on my español and to help her out a little bit, I am going to start a “la palabra español del día”, or “Spanish Word of the Day” post.  So here’s the first one - la rebeca.

rebeca, noun:
cardigan

Origin: 

This is definitely a word whose meaning you couldn’t guess. Apparently it comes from Daphne Du Maurier’s famous book, Rebecca, whose young heroine was particularly fond of wearing a cardigan.  Don’t forget to use la instead of mi, tu etc when talking about putting on or taking off clothes in Spanish.

Example Sentence: 

Me puse la rebeca.
I put on my cardigan.

Source:  Dictionary.com

fractious \FRAK-shuhs\, adjective:
1. Tending to cause trouble; unruly.
2. Irritable; snappish; cranky.

Example Sentence: 

Marcus frequently took a rod to Ambrose’s back–with the predictable result of making the boy even more fractious and slow to obey.
– Roy Morris Jr., Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company

Origin:  Fractious is from fraction, which formerly had the sense “discord, dissension, disharmony”; it is derived from Latin frangere, “to break.”

Note:  Not to be confused with a previous word of the day, factious.
Source:  Dictionary.com

factious \FAK-shuhs\, adjective:
1. Given to faction; addicted to form parties and raise dissensions, in opposition to government or the common good; turbulent; seditious; prone to clamor against public measures or men; — said of persons.
2. Pertaining to faction; proceeding from faction; indicating, or characterized by, faction; — said of acts or expressions; as, factious quarrels.

Example Sentence:  Many nobles sought good government, rather than being factious, and were only forced into war by the king’s incompetence.
– “Cade’s Rebellion, History of United Kingdom,”, Encyclopedia Britannica

Origin:  Factious derives from Latin factiosus, from factio, a party, a group of people, especially a political party, faction, or side.

venerate \VEN-uh-rayt\, transitive verb
To treat someone or something with deep respect, reverence or deference; to revere.

Example Sentence: They venerated the same saints, worshipped in the same churches, and respected a past of shared values.
– Miranda Vickers, Between Serb and Albanian

Origin: Venerate comes from Latin veneratus, past participle of venerari, “to revere, to respect, to worship,” from venus, vener-, “charm, loveliness.” 

Source: Dictionary.com

I haven’t been posting my “word of the day” regularly like I originally planned.  So, I’m using yesterday’s word of the day for today’s.   The word is jejune.  So here’s the def:

jejune \juh-JOON\, adjective:
1. Lacking in nutritive value.
2. Displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity; childish.
3. Lacking interest or significance; dull; meager; dry.

Example Sentence:  By the inflection of his voice, the expression of his face, and the motion of his body, he signals that he is aware of all the ways he may be thought silly or jejune, and that he might even think so himself.
– Jedediah Purdy, For Common Things

Origin:  Jejune derives from Latin jejunus, “fasting, hence hungry, hence scanty, meager, weak.”

Source:  Dictionary.com

chortle \CHOR-tl\, transitive and intransitive verb:
1. To utter, or express with, a snorting, exultant laugh or chuckle.

noun:
1. A snorting, exultant laugh or chuckle.

Origin:

Chortle a combination of chuckle and snort. It was coined by Lewis Carroll (Charles L. Dodgson), in Through the Looking-Glass, published in 1872.

Example Sentence:

A nation that was used to chortling over Charlie Chaplin or rejoicing with the high-stepping Ziegfeld girls found itself drawn to this more refined, decidedly European entertainment.
– Larry Tye, The Father of Spin

Source:  Dictionary.com

delectation \dee-lek-TAY-shun\, noun:
Great pleasure; delight, enjoyment.

Origin:  Delectation derives from Latin delectatio, from the past participle of delectare, “to please.”

Example Sentence:  At other times she’ll get so worked up by some pet poeticism that she forgets she’s not writing just for her own delectation.
– David Klinghoffer, “Black madonna”, National Review, February 9, 1998

Source: Dictionary.com

flagitious \fluh-JISH-uhs\, adjective:
1. Disgracefully or shamefully criminal; grossly wicked; scandalous; — said of acts, crimes, etc.
2. Guilty of enormous crimes; corrupt; profligate; — said of persons.
3. Characterized by enormous crimes or scandalous vices; as, “flagitious times.” 

Origin: 

Flagitious comes from Latin flagitiosus, from flagitium, “a shameful or disgraceful act,” originally, “a burning desire, heat of passion,” from flagitare, “to demand earnestly or hotly,” connected with flagrare, “to blaze, to burn.” 

Example Sentence: 

These men were reported to be heretics . . . , seducers of youth, and men of flagitious life.
– Isaac Taylor, History of the World 

Source:  Dictionary.com