Word of the Day
xeriscaping
noun
environmental design of residential and park land using various methods for minimizing the need for water use.
More about xeriscaping
Xeriscaping, “environmental design based on minimal water use,” is based on xeric, “of a dry environment,” on the pattern of landscaping. Xeric comes from Ancient Greek xērós, “dry,” which resembles English sere, “dry,” and the Word of the Day rizzar, but this resemblance is purely coincidental. Though landscape comes from the Dutch equivalents of land and -ship, landscaping was falsely analyzed as land compounded with “scaping,” with a sense roughly like “aesthetic improvement of a space,” and combined with xeri- to form today’s word. A similar phenomenon happened with hamburger, which literally means “of Hamburg” but was falsely analyzed as ham compounded with “burger,” with a sense roughly like “patty on a bun,” and combined with cheese to form cheeseburger. Xeriscaping was first recorded in English in the early 1980s.
EXAMPLE OF XERISCAPING USED IN A SENTENCE
Xeriscaping transformed their rugged yard into an oasis.
roentgenize
verb (used with object)
to subject to the action of x-rays.
More about roentgenize
Roentgenize, “to subject to the action of X-rays,” is named for Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845–1923), who discovered X-rays in 1895. As we learned from the Word of the Day foehn, oe is an alternative way of representing ö in German when the umlaut (the horizontal pair of dots, also known as a dieresis) is not readily available. The same applies to German ä and ü, which may be written as ae and ue; compare the Word of the Day gemütlich. The surname Röntgen is, unfortunately for us language detectives, of uncertain origin. Roentgenize was first recorded in English in the late 1890s.
EXAMPLE OF ROENTGENIZE USED IN A SENTENCE
After Wilhelm Röngten roentgenized the hand of his wife, Anna, she examined her finger bones in the resulting image and chillingly remarked, “I have seen my death.”
More about mansuetude
Mansuetude, “mildness, gentleness,” comes from Latin mānsuētūdō, which is equivalent to manus, “hand”; suēscere, “to become accustomed”; and -tūdō, a noun-forming suffix similar to English -hood and -ness. Manus is also the source of manacle, manicure, manual, and the Word of the Day mano a mano. Suēscere, which contains the common element -sc-, “to become” (see the Word of the Day opalesce), is related to Ancient Greek êthos, “custom, habit,” as in ethics. Mansuetude was first recorded in English in the late 14th century.
EXAMPLE OF MANSUETUDE USED IN A SENTENCE
Every day on the job, teachers have to balance strictness with mansuetude as they lead their students through lessons.