Word of the Day
exodus
noun
a going out; a departure or emigration, usually of a large number of people: the summer exodus to the country and shore.
More about exodus
Exodus dates from Old English times: the English abbot and scholar Aelfric Grammaticus (“Aelfric the Grammarian,” c955–c1020) writes the sentence sēo ōther bōc is Exodus gehāten “The second book (of the Bible) is called Exodus.” The Old English noun comes straight from Latin Latin exodus, a direct borrowing of Greek éxodos “a going out, a march, military expedition.” Éxodos is the Greek title, not a translation, of the opening words of the Hebrew text, wě ʾēlleh shěmōth “And these (are) the names.”
how is exodus used?
The California exodus has been far more significant in the more lightly populated states of the West, where people born in California now represent a huge share of the population.
Signs point to an exodus. A study published earlier this month suggests that senior civil servants leave in droves during the first year of a new administration.
More about yealing
Yealing “a contemporary, a coeval” is a word of uncertain etymology, used by only three Scottish poets: Allan Ramsay (1686–1758), Robert Burns (1759–1796), and Robert Couper (1750–1818). Yealing entered English in the 18th century.
how is yealing used?
Oh ye, my dear-remember’d ancient yealings, / Were ye but here to share my wounded feelings!
His bonny, various, yeelin‘ frien’s / Cam a’ in bourrochs there ….
facultative
adjective
left to one's option or choice; optional: The last questions in the examination were facultative.
More about facultative
The adjective facultative comes via the French adjective facultatif (masculine), facultative (feminine) “conveying or granting a right or power,” from the noun faculté “knowledge, learning, physical or moral capacity.” French faculté is ultimately from Latin facultāt-, the stem of facultās “ability, power, capacity” (originally a doublet of the noun facilitās “ease, ease of performance or completion, facility”). The French adjective suffix –atif, –ative comes from the Latin suffix –ātivus; the English suffix –ative comes from both French and Latin. Facultative entered English in the 19th century.
how is facultative used?
I cannot but be conscious, when this toast of “Science and Literature” is given, that in what tends to become the popular view it is Sir William Grove and Science who are obligatory; it is I and Literature who are facultative.
From the facultative point of view, Poe thinks of poetry as a rhythmic and musical use of language which is the province of Taste alone, and which aspires to Beauty.