The Words of the Week - Nov. 6
Dictionary lookups from elections, Star Trek, and the WNBA
‘Engage’
The death of actor Patrick Stewart led to engage becoming a top lookup.
Patrick Stewart, who rose from poverty in England to become an accomplished Shakespearean stage actor and then achieved global stardom as the erudite Captain Jean-Luc Picard in TV’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation” … has died at the age of 86. “Make it so,” his character Picard often said, instructing a subordinate to carry out a command, or sometimes deploying the similar catch phrase, “Engage.”
—Will Dunham, Reuters, 30 Oct. 2026
We define many meanings of the verb engage. The one used by Patrick Steward in his role as Captain Picard may be interpreted as an extension of “to cause (mechanical parts) to mesh”—as in “Engage (the mechanisms that allow the ship to move forward)!”—or as “to begin and carry on an enterprise or activity,” a sense normally used with in.
‘Repudiation’
The mid-term elections on Tuesday night drove lookups for a number of words starting with r, including rout, rebuke, referendum (see below), and repudiation, many of which appeared in headlines.
‘Total Repudiation’: Dems Sweep Texas’ Top Battleground Tarrant County in Historic Rout
—Trump dealt a ‘full-blown repudiation’ by Americans as Democrats seize firm control of House and Senate
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We define repudiation as “the act of repudiating” and “the state of being repudiated.” The verb repudiate has several definitions, including “to refuse to accept” (as in “repudiate a contract”), “to reject as untrue or unjust” (as in “repudiate a charge”), and “to refuse to have anything to do with.” Repudiate, and by extension repudiation, can be traced to the Latin repudium (“rejection of a prospective spouse, divorce”), which probably comes from re- + pudēre, meaning “to shame.”
‘Referendum’
For the second week in a row, referendum was a top lookup related to the midterm elections.
Referendum may refer to the principle or practice of submitting to popular vote a measure passed on or proposed by a legislative body or by popular initiative, or to a vote on a measure so submitted. Since the U.S. Constitution doesn’t provide for referenda at the national level, referenda tend to be on local and state issues. In most locales, a few questions usually appear on the ballot at election time, often involving such issues as new zoning ordinances, new taxes for schools, and new limits on spending.
The capital referendum, for $1.95 million, is meant to help replace the elementary school's air conditioner, get rid of asbestos in the high school bathroom and add a layer on all school building roofs that would extend their warranty by another 20 years.
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Referendum is also seeing increased broader, figurative use for a vote or election perceived to be measuring approval of something not being voted on directly.
Americans vote in election seen as a referendum on Trump presidency
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‘Valkyrie’
The Golden State Valkyries’ victory in the WNBA championship made Valkyrie a top lookup.
The Golden State Valkyries are WNBA champions, and they have Gabby Williams to thank. Williams dragged the Valkyries over the finish line in their 68-63 win over the Atlanta Dream in Game 7, shaking off a tough first half to score 15 points in the third quarter and 13 in the fourth to take over offensively and help Golden State capture the title.
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Valkyrie may refer in Norse mythology to any of the maidens of Odin who choose the heroes to be slain in battle and conduct them to Valhalla. Valhalla, which was also trending following the Valkyries’ victory, refers to the great hall where heroes slain in battle are received. Valkyrie is a borrowing from German (Walküre) and Old Norse (Walküre), and shares a Germanic ancestor with the Old English wælcyrige meaning “war goddess, sorceress.”
‘Ocarina’
The release of a remake of a beloved video game this week led to a spike in lookups for ocarina.
“The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” is unquestionably a classic, so if you’ve never played it, you’re in for a treat. If you enjoyed the original back in 1998, Nintendo would like to welcome you back with enhanced controls, overhauled graphics, full voice acting and expanded cutscenes.
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We define ocarina as “a simple wind instrument typically having an oval body with finger holes and a projecting mouthpiece.” The word comes from a diminutive of oca (“goose”) in an Italian dialect and ultimately from the Latin avis, meaning “bird.”
Word Worth Knowing: ‘Hackee’
With chipmunk so firmly established in the English lexicon, one might think the pert little squirrel-relatives currently scampering around the northern hemisphere caching food in preparation for winter (24 species in North America, 1 in Asia) have always been called such. Not so! Chipmunk, which likely comes from the Ojibwa ačitamo·nʔ (“red squirrel”) first appeared in printed English in the early 1800s, a few years after the first print appearance of hackee, a word that imitates the sound of the animals theretofore also called “ground squirrels.”
The Hackee is one of the liveliest and briskest of quadrupeds, and by reason of its quick and rapid movements, has not inaptly been compared to the wren. It is chiefly seen among brushwood and small timber; and as it whisks about the branches, or shoots through their interstices with its peculiar, quick, jerking movements, and its odd, quaint, little clucking cry, like the chip-chipping of newly-hatched chickens, the analogy between itself and the bird is very apparent. … Among boys the popular name of the Hackee is the “Chipmuck.”
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