Word of the Day
jocular
adjective
given to, characterized by, intended for, or suited to joking or jesting.
More about jocular
The English adjective jocular “given to or suited to joking or jesting; facetious” comes straight from the Latin adjective joculāris “humorous, laughable, facetious,” which, used as the neuter plural noun joculāria, means “jests, jokes.” Joculāris, a derivative of the noun jocus “a jest, joke,” comes from the widespread Proto-Indo-European root yek-, yok– “to speak, speak solemnly, pray.” In other ancient Italic languages, such as Umbrian (spoken north and east of Rome), iuka means “prayers”; in Oscan (spoken around Naples), iúkleí means “(in) consecration.” The root variant yek– appears in Old Saxon and Old High German gehan, jehan “to speak, acknowledge, confess.” The suffixed variant yekti– yields Middle Welsh ieith and Breton iez “prayers,” and in far-off Turkestan, both Tocharian languages, A and B, have the root yask– “to demand, beg.” Jocular entered English in the first half of the 17th century.
how is jocular used?
She said to us, “Good morning, class,” half in a way that someone must have told her was the proper way to speak to us and half in a jocular way, as if we secretly amused her.
The voice will be instantly recognizable as Saundersesque to anyone familiar with his fiction: jocular and often stand-up-comic funny, with a focus on providing joyful surprises with every turn of phrase.
campestral
adjective
of or relating to fields or open country.
More about campestral
Campestral, “relating to fields or open country,” comes from Latin campestris “relating to fields or plains; flat, level,” a derivative of campus “field” and the adjective suffix –estris. Campus has no reliable etymology in Latin, but some of its senses are very important. The most important campus in Roman life was the Campus Martius “the Field of Mars” (named after an altar dedicated to the god Mars). The Campus Martius was originally pastureland outside the walls of Rome and therefore suitable for military exercises, army musters, and assemblies of legions before processing in triumphs through the city. Campestral entered English in the early 18th century.
how is campestral used?
I was able to thoroughly enjoy the region’s rolling, campestral beauty in a three-town tour.
Beyond its wine and campestral vistas, Orcia is home to many historical attractions, including the medieval village of Rocca ‘Orcia.
brabble
verb (used without object)
to argue stubbornly about trifles; wrangle.
More about brabble
Brabble is an uncommon verb and noun meaning “to quarrel over trifles; a noisy quarrel.” Its etymology is obscure, but most authorities think brabble comes from the Middle Dutch verb brabbelen “to quarrel, stammer, babble” (there is no connection between babble and brabble). One relatively early citation of brabble in the sense “to quarrel over trifles” dates from the first half of the 16th century: It reads “And then they brable with us about the translation,” a quotation from John Field, originally an Anglican clergyman, later a radical Puritan clergyman. Brabbling over a translation may seem nowadays like a petty academic quarrel, but Field was talking about John Calvin’s sermons, which were explosive at that time and could result in one’s painful death as a heretic. Brabble entered English in the first half of the 16th century.
how is brabble used?
they seldom meet upon the Exchange, or in the streets, but they brabble and quarrel: so that, if that society be not dissolved the sooner, or cast in a new mould, worse effects may follow than the whole business is worth.
we were, God knows, prepared to argue for it. And argue. And argue. But even in the monkish idelenss of Cambridge where there was more time to brabble in than ever I knew before or since … we saw ourselves as swords of change.