Word of the Day
: January 15, 2008neoteric
playWhat It Means
: recent in origin : modern
neoteric in Context
The gallery eschews traditional works of art in favor of more neoteric pieces, such as electric light installations and computer graphic displays.
Did You Know?
An odd thing about "neoteric" is that this word for things that are modern and new is itself rather old. It's been part of English since at least 1596, and its roots go back even further -- to ancient Greek. We adapted the word from Late Latin "neotericus," which also means "recent." "Neotericus" in turn comes from Late Greek "neōterikos" and ultimately from Greek "neos," meaning "new" or "young." As old as its roots are, however, "neoteric" itself entered English later than its synonyms "modern" (which appeared earlier in the 16th century) and "newfangled" (which has been with us since the 15th century).
