Word of the Day
More about jeu d'esprit
Jeu d’esprit, “a witticism,” is a borrowing from French, in which it literally means “game of spirit.” Jeu, “game,” comes from Latin jocus, “joke,” which is the source of jeopardy, jewel, and jocular. Meanwhile, esprit comes from Latin spīritus, “spirit, breath,” from spīrāre, “to breathe”; compare aspire, expire, perspire, and respire. The plural of jeu d’esprit is jeux d’esprit, in both English and French, with only the “game” element becoming plural. Though most French nouns add -s when made plural, most nouns ending in -eu add -x. Jeu d’esprit was first recorded in English in the 1710s.
EXAMPLE OF JEU D’ESPRIT USED IN A SENTENCE
The unexpected jeu d’esprit that closed the speech had the entire room roaring with laughter.
steppe
noun
an extensive plain, especially one without trees.
More about steppe
Steppe, “an extensive, treeless plain,” is a borrowing by way of either French or German from Russian step’, of unknown origin. In the English transliteration of Russian step’, the apostrophe (’) represents the Cyrillic letter (ь), known to the Russians as myágkiĭ znak, “soft sign.” This indicates that the consonant immediately before it is palatalized, or pronounced with the tongue against the hard palate, adding a slight “yuh” to the consonant. Though English doesn’t use palatalization quite as Russian does, this phenomenon is still somewhat visible in words such as assume, which some pronounce as “uh–soom” and others as “uh–syoom.” Steppe was first recorded in English circa 1670.
EXAMPLE OF STEPPE USED IN A SENTENCE
The animals ventured south across the steppe to find a warmer home for the coming winter.
horchata
noun
a chilled drink of Spain and Latin America, made from rice milk or any of various nut milks, sweetened and typically flavored with cinnamon or vanilla.
More about horchata
Horchata, “a chilled, sweetened, nut or rice milk-based drink,” is a loanword from Spanish that ultimately comes from Latin hordeum, “barley,” the key ingredient in a similar beverage. Linguists assume that, unlike most Spanish words of Latin origin, horchata did not come directly from Latin and instead followed a path through another Mediterranean language such as Italian, Mozarabic, or Vulgar Latin. A similar route produced French orgeat, which was once made of barley but now contains almonds instead. Horchata was first recorded in English in the 1820s.
EXAMPLE OF HORCHATA USED IN A SENTENCE
The family made multiple pitchers of horchata to be shared at their summer picnic.