Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 19, 2013 is:

habiliment • \huh-BIL-uh-munt\  • noun
1 : characteristic apparatus : trappings 2 a : the dress characteristic of an occupation or occasion — usually used in plural b : clothes — usually used in plural

Examples:
"My riches are these poor habiliments, / Of which if you should here disfurnish me, / You take the sum and substance that I have." — From Shakespeare's 1595 play The Two Gentlemen of Verona

"In 1837, a Times-Picayune reporter noted that the first documented Mardi Gras walking parade excited considerable speculation as to who they were, what were their motives, and what upon earth could induce them to turn out in such grotesque and outlandish habiliments. Some things never change." — From an article released by Tulane University and published by States News Service, January 24, 2013

Did you know?
"Habiliment," from Middle French "abillement," is a bit old-fashioned and is often used to describe complex, multi-pieced outfits like those of medieval times. For instance, a full suit of armor—which might include a helmet, gorget, pallette, brassard, skirt of tasses, tuille, gauntlet, cuisse, jambeau, and solleret, along with other pieces and plates—can be considered the habiliments of a knight. Nowadays, "habiliment," which is usually used in its plural form, is also fitting for the dress of an occupation, such as the different vestments of a priest, or for clothes, such as elegant formal wear, worn on special occasions. When "habiliment" is used for plain old "clothes," it is more than likely for jocular or poetic effect—as we see it being used by Shakespeare in the first example above.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 18, 2013 is:

harangue • \huh-RANG\  • noun
1 : a speech addressed to a public assembly 2 : a ranting speech or writing 3 : lecture

Examples:
The comedian's stand-up act consisted mostly of sharp harangues against celebrities and the media.

"Every time I see one of these conspiracy types stand up and with great zeal launch into their harangue I'm reminded of something I heard a former Idaho State Superintendent, Roy Truby, once say: 'I have a hard time understanding these people who say they love their country but hate their government.'" — From an article by Chris Carlson in the Idaho State Journal, May 1, 2013

Did you know?
In Old Italian, the noun "aringo" referred to a public assembly, the verb "aringare" meant "to speak in public," and the noun "aringa" referred to a public speech. "Aringa" was borrowed into Middle French as "arenge," and it is from this form that we get our noun "harangue," which made its first appearance in English in the 16th century. Perhaps due to the bombastic or exasperated nature of some public speeches, the term quickly developed an added sense referring to a speech or writing in the style of a rant (though the word "rant" is not etymologically related). There is also a verb "harangue," which refers to the act of making such a speech.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 17, 2013 is:

demure • \dih-MYOOR\  • adjective
1 : reserved, modest 2 : affectedly modest, reserved, or serious : coy

Examples:
When we first met Kelly, she was quiet and demure, so it surprises us now to see that she can be vocal and forward.

"Amazingly, though, these corporate creatures have suddenly turned demure, insisting that they don’t want to draw any attention to themselves." — From an editorial by Jim Hightower in the Illinois Times, May 16, 2013

Did you know?
"Demure" has essentially remained unchanged in meaning since at least the 14th century. Its first recorded use in our language dates from the Middle English period (roughly the 12th to 15th centuries), a time when the native tongue of England was borrowing many new words from the French spoken by the Normans who gained control of the country after the Battle of Hastings. "Demure" might have been part of the French cultural exchange; etymologists think it may have derived from the Anglo-French verb "demorer" or "demourer," meaning "to linger." During Shakespeare's time, "demure" was briefly used in English as a verb meaning "to look demurely," but only the older adjective form has survived to the present day.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 16, 2013 is:

fawn • \FAWN\  • verb
1 : to show affection — used especially of a dog 2 : to court favor by a cringing or flattering manner

Examples:
The author gave a reading from her latest book, followed by a meet and greet where she was fawned over by adoring fans.

"The trip was relaxing, and Lauren was right. I was like a different person, probably because I didn't have deadlines looming over me, the pressures of running a household, no hour-long commute and my parents fawned over me like I was royalty." — From a blog post by Jessica Ryen Doyle on FoxNews.com, May 3, 2013

Did you know?
Some people will be glad to learn the origins of "fawn"—and there's a hint about the word's etymology in that declaration. Middle English speakers adapted an Old English word meaning "to rejoice" to create the verb "faunen," which shifted in spelling over time to become "fawn." That Old English word, in turn, derives from "fagan," meaning "glad." "Fagan" is also an ancestor of the English adjective "fain," whose earliest (now obsolete) meaning is "happy" or "pleased." If we follow the etymological path of "fawn" even further back, we arrive at an ancient word that also provided Old German and Old Norse with words for "happy."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 15, 2013 is:

gymkhana • \jim-KAH-nuh\  • noun
1 a : a meet featuring sports contests or athletic skills: as b : competitive games on horseback c : a festival featuring gymnastics and athletic showmanship and often including pageantry d : a timed contest for automobiles featuring a series of events designed to test driving skill

Examples:
"The Lower Clarence Pony Club attended the first gymkhana of the season at Casino Pony Club grounds last weekend." — From an article by Patrick Allen in the Clarence Valley Daily Examiner (New South Wales, Australia), May 6, 2013

"The gymkhana competitor and stunt driver Ken Block is expected to drive the Pirelli Formula One test car at Monza, the historic Italian racetrack, in August." — From a post on the New York Times' Wheels blog, June 16, 2011

Did you know?
Both the word "gymkhana" and the event it describes originated in 19th-century India. The word is probably an alteration of the Hindi "gedkhana," which describes a ball- playing area similar to a racket ball court, with the first syllable influenced by our word "gymnasium." The first gymkhanas were displays of athletics and equestrian skill, and while those are still common, the 20th century introduced a new kind of gymkhana, designed to show off car handling. These newer gymkhanas are often held in parking lots, where contestants race over tight, twisting courses marked with cones or pylons.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 14, 2013 is:

millefleur • \meel-FLER\  • adjective
: having an allover pattern of small flowers and plants

Examples:
The museum's collection includes several medieval tapestries with millefleur designs.

"While millefleurs tapestries rarely fail to be decorative, the later ones of the period 1500 to 1520 are rather flimsy and lack the boldness of design of the 1460s." — From an article by Jamie Mulherron in Apollo Magazine, March 1, 2011

Did you know?
"Millefleur" (which can also be spelled "millefleurs," as in our second example sentence) came directly from French into English in the 18th century as a word for a perfume distilled from several different kinds of flowers. The literal meaning of "mille fleur" is "a thousand flowers," so it is easy to see how "millefleur" came to be applied to patterns or backgrounds of many tiny flowers or plants. A similarly colorful extension of "a thousand flowers" can be seen in the word "millefiori." That term, which refers to ornamental glass characterized by multicolored flower-like designs, comes from "mille fiori," the Italian phrase meaning "a thousand flowers."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 13, 2013 is:

sandbag • \SAND-bag\  • verb
1 : to bank, stop up, or weight with sandbags 2 a : to hit or stun with or as if with a sandbag b : to treat unfairly or harshly c : to coerce by crude means d : to conceal or misrepresent one's true position, potential, or intent especially in order to take advantage of : to hide the truth about oneself so as to gain an advantage over another

Examples:
Several employees indicated that they felt they had been sandbagged and were considering filing complaints.

"Central Florida Top Recruits coach Keiwan Ratliff acknowledged that a few teams were likely sandbagging during Saturday's pool play in the IMG Regional 7-on-7 tournament." — From an article by Corey Long in the Orlando Sentinel, April 21, 2013

Did you know?
In the 19th century, the verb "sandbag" began to be used to describe the act of bludgeoning someone with a small, sand-filled bag—a tactic employed by ruffians, usually as a prelude to robbing their victims. The verb went on to develop metaphorical extensions, such as "to coerce by crude means." By the 1940s, it was being used of a strategy in which a poker player with a good hand bets weakly, in order to draw other players into holding on to their hands and raising the bet. The use of "sandbag" has since evolved to refer to a general strategy of playing down one's position in order to gain some sort of advantage.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 12, 2013 is:

Rx • \ahr-EKS\  • noun
1 a : a prescription: such as b : a written direction for a therapeutic or corrective agent; specifically : one for the preparation and use of a medicine c : something (such as a recommendation) resembling a doctor's prescription

Examples:
"Any exercise that continuously moves major muscle groups, especially the legs, is the right Rx to improve cardiorespiratory fitness." — From an article in Food & Fitness Advisor, February, 2004

"PCSO [Pulaski County Sheriff's Office] collected 892.2 pounds of returned prescription drugs. All collected items will be destroyed in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. Removing these old/expired Rx drugs helps prevent abuse and overdose by both children and adults. The water supply and landfills are also not contaminated by their improper disposal." — From an article on THV11.com (Little Rock, Arkansas), April 30, 2013

Did you know?
The "R" in "Rx" stands for the Latin word "recipe," meaning "take," and the first doctor to use "Rx" used it as a verb with the same meaning, "Rx two aspirin" being equivalent to today's "Take two aspirin." (The word "recipe" had had the same function from the 13th through the 17th centuries.) Those two letters were a 19th-century take on a 16th-century symbol, the letter R with a line through its slanted leg—the line signaling that the "R" is functioning as an abbreviation. It wasn't till the early 20th century that "Rx" came to be used as the noun we know today. As for the noun "recipe," it followed the same trajectory, referring to a medical prescription for about 100 years before it developed its connection with cooking in the early 17th century.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 11, 2013 is:

hoise • \HOYZ\  • verb
: lift, raise; especially : to raise into position by or as if by means of tackle

Examples:
Bethany was selected by her Girl Scout troop to hoise the American flag for Monday's Memorial Day ceremony on the town green.

"In order for [New England Patriot's quarterback Tom] Brady to play a great game, which is a must if the Pats want to hoise the Lombardi Trophy, he needs to stay upright." — From an article by Nick Curcuru and Michael Muldoon in the Gloucester Daily Times (Massachusetts), January 27, 2013

Did you know?
Did you know? The connection between "hoise" and "hoist" is a bit confusing. The two words are essentially synonymous variants, but "hoist" is far more common. You'll rarely encounter "hoise" in any of its regular forms: "hoise," "hoised," or "hoising." But a variant of its past participle shows up fairly frequently as part of a set expression. And now, here's the confusing part—that variant past participle is "hoist"! The expression is "hoist with (or by) one's own petard," which means "victimized or hurt by one's own scheme." This oft-heard phrase owes its popularity to Shakespeare's Hamlet: "For 'tis the sport to have the engineer hoist with his own petar[d]." (A petard is a medieval explosive. The quote implies that the engineer—the person who sets the explosive device—is blown into the air by the explosion of his own device.)

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 10, 2013 is:

chilblain • \CHIL-blayn\  • noun
: an inflammatory swelling or sore caused by exposure (as of the feet or hands) to cold

Examples:
"The damp cold there goes bone deep, and chilblains are a threat…." — From an article by Guy Trebay in The New York Times, January 16, 2011

"Nature gives us scurvy, rickets, buckteeth and chilblains. That's on a good day." — From an article by Gina Barreca in the Hartford Courant (Connecticut), May 3, 2013

Did you know?
Given that chilblains are caused by exposure to cold conditions, it may not surprise you to know that the first element of this word comes from the noun "chill." The second element, "blain," may be less familiar, though the word "blain" ("an inflammatory swelling or sore") is still used by English speakers. Both elements of "chilblain" have Anglo-Saxon roots. "Chill" comes from Old English "ciele" ("frost" or "chill"), which is akin to "ceald," an Old English ancestor of the modern "cold." "Blain" comes from Old English "blegen" (same meaning as "blain"). These two words were first brought together (as the compound "chyll blayne") in the 1500s.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 09, 2013 is:

prosaic • \proh-ZAY-ik\  • adjective
1 : characteristic of prose as distinguished from poetry : factual 2 : dull, unimaginative 3 : everyday, ordinary

Examples:
The novel's protagonist is a young accountant who has grown weary of her prosaic life and longs for adventure and world travels.

"It was as if our drought had developed the magical powers of a dark lord, the ability to suck water back uphill, away from the farmers down south who need it.… The reality here is more prosaic, but revealing. No dark magic, just a year so dry that Gus's model can't cope with the reality of the situation." — From an article by John Fleck in Albuquerque Journal, May 7, 2013

Did you know?
In the 1600s, any text that was not poetic was prosaic. Back then, "prosaic" carried no negative connotations; it simply indicated that a written work was made up of prose. That sense clearly owes much to the meaning of the word's Latin ancestor "prosa," which meant "prose." By the end of the 17th century, though, poetry had come to be viewed as the more beautiful, imaginative, and emotional type of writing, and prose was relegated to the status of mundane and plain-Jane. As a result, English speakers started using "prosaic" to refer to anything considered matter-of-fact or ordinary, and they gradually transformed it into a synonym for "colorless," "drab," "lifeless," and "lackluster."