Word of the Day

: June 26, 2012

desideratum

noun, plural desiderata dih-sid-uh-RAH-tum

What It Means

: something desired as essential

desideratum in Context

"For … every unknown actor dying for a break, a speaking part in a Woody Allen movie is the desideratum." - From an article by Tracy Young in Vogue, November 1990

"200 vendors will offer a wide array of garden-related items…. 'Window-shopping' is welcome, but the event invites you to stock up on your garden desiderata." - From an article by Tom Karwin in the Monterey County Herald (California), March 16, 2012

Did You Know?

We'd like to introduce you to some close cousins of "desire." All trace their roots to the Latin "sider-," meaning "heavenly body." "Desiderare," meaning "to long for," was born when Latin "de-" was prefixed to "sider-." "Desiderare" begat Anglo-French "desirer," which in turn brought forth English "desire," "desirous," and "desirable" in the 13th and 14th centuries. But many years later, in the 17th century, English acquired "desideration" ("longing"), "desiderate" ("to wish for"), and finally "desideratum," all of which can lay claim to direct ancestry from "desiderare."