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.