Rampant

Rampant is another of those words that is used more in a metaphorical sense than it is in its actual or literal meaning. Literally, rampant, means to rear up on hind legs. Thus a rampant bear, is one that is standing up like this:

Although this photograph (kindly borrowed from flickr user Sponng's photostream) does not have the more fierce connotations that rampant gives in heraldry:


Now this imaginary bear is fiercly, if not awkwardly, going after someone.

Since human beings, when standing, are necessarily always upright, the use of the word rampant is generally metaphorical. When people are rampant they are either fierce or out-of-control. Rampant hordes, for example, indicates a crazed mass of people who no doubt will act unpredictably and tear your castle apart if given half the chance. The phrase to run rampant shows this too (and is particuarly amusing since we humans always run rampant.)

Rampant derives from the French meaning to rear up or, strangely enough, to crawl.

Now a note of closure: this is the last Word of the day for 2006 as it is our last day of operation in the SLCC Student Writing Center. We wish you a happy holiday season and the gift of peace.

Preen

Preen is an interesting verb since from its origins in the Middle English preonen, it invariably refers to the action of a bird smoothing its feathers. Like many words, however, it has also taken on connnotations of other behavior. Thus when human beings preen, they are not smoothing out their feathers, but a primping themselves to look good.

Peregrination

Peregrination is a fancy-pants word for travel or wandering around. It comes from the French for pilgrimage: a religious journey to a the shrine of a saint or to another holy place. Interestingly enough, peregrination has lost its religious connotations and now more closely relates to the Latin peregrinatio: the action of travel.

Parsimonious

Parsimonious is the adjectival form of parsimony and means stingy, as in "Is the definition parsimonious parsimonious enough for you?" It derives from the Latin parse or "to spare."

Anomalous

A phenomenon that is anomalous deviates from a common pattern or type. For example, a dog with an extra claw is anomalous in that it differs from the expected pattern of dogs to have five claws. The word is often used in science to indicate that a particular object of study is unexpected or uncommon. Anomalous derives from the Latin (and perhaps Greek) meaning "uneven."

Otalgia

Otaligia is a super-fancy word for earache. It comes from the Greek otalgikos (long initial O). You will note that in otalgia is the a combination of the root ot (ear) and the suffix -algia. This Greek suffix is a common attachment in medical words to indicate pain: neuralgia is a good example of that. Medicine's Classical heritage (think Hippocrates) is shown through its prolific use of Greek words.

Connote

Interestingly enough, connote is a word about the meaning of words. To connote is to imply another meaning along with a primary meaning. It is different from denote which indicates a word's exact meaning. For example, the denotation of the word red is the exact definition of the color: "Having, or characterized by, the colour which appears at the lower or least refracted end of the visible spectrum, and is familiar in nature as that of blood, fire, various flowers (as the poppy and rose) and ripe fruits (whence the frequent similes red as blood, fire, a rose, cherry, etc)" (OED, "red") . A connotation of red, however, would be a member of the Communist Party since red connotes a communist because of the Communist Party's adoption of the color red as its party's color. By association or connotation, members of the Party were called "reds."

Bane

Bane is a noun and means something that causes a lot of distress, unhappiness, or annoyance. These days it is usually used in a phrase that includes "of [appropriate possessive subject/prounoun] existence." For example the sentence "Dogs are the bane of Mary's existence" uses this construction. Often the word "bane" sounds archaic or old-fashioned used without the rest of the phrase. For instance, "Dogs are Mary's bane" certainly sounds old-fashioned at best and odd/incorrect at worst, but it is a perfectly fine sentence.

Interestingly bane is a very old word in English and comes from bana which means something that causes death or a poison. This can be heard in the Hallowe'en classic wolf'sbane. To this amateur etymologist, bana sounds like a name for a demon in Dungeon's and Dragons.

Eschew

Eschew is a transitive verb (meaning it needs to act on a direct object to make sense) which means to avoid or to shun. When you eschew something you give it the brush-off. In the following example sentence, Rodney distances him form peanuts: "Since he was allergic to peanuts, Rodney eschewed them with abandon in favor of hazel nuts." Eschew, despite sounding very French in origin, is actually derived from the Middle English eschewen which in turn derived from the Germanic scheuchen. Scheuchen, coincidentally, means shy and is, indeed, a root of our word shy. So someone who is shy pushes something away?

Gelid

Gelid means "cold" or "icy" and derives from the latin gelus for frost or cold. In the following example sentence, both "gelid" and "icy" are used to heighten effect: "The gelid Atlantic doomed the unfortunate passengers of the Titantic to an icy death."

Convivial

An adjective, convivial has three closely-related meanings. It can indicate a friendly or agreeable person or place as in "Kumar was very convivial person" or "Texas is a convivial state." Take care when using convivial, however, as it also means a fondness for partying, feasting, or general merry-making. It also describes such a feast itself. In other words, convivial doesn't just mean friendly but in its fuller sense means socialble in that a person who is convivial is likely to be at a party eating, drinking, and talking or a convivial place is a good location to party hearty. The word derives from the latin convivum (banquet) . Convivum itself derives from the latin verb vivare which means to live.