Word of the Day
romaji
noun
a system of writing Japanese using the letters of the Latin alphabet.
More about romaji
Romaji is a borrowing of Japanese rōma, “Rome, Roman,” combined with ji, “character.” Japanese ji can also be found in emoji, kanji, and the Word of the Day kaomoji, and is related to Mandarin zì, “character, word.” Romaji was first recorded in English in the late 1880s.
EXAMPLE OF ROMAJI USED IN A SENTENCE
Once the Japanese text was rendered in romaji, gamers throughout Europe and the Americas were able to pronounce the game characters’ names.
nonpartisan
adjective
not supporting or controlled by a political party, special interest group, or the like.
More about nonpartisan
Nonpartisan is formed from the negative prefix non- and the adjective partisan, which comes from Latin pars, meaning “piece, portion, faction.” Pars is also the source of parcel and particle (both literally “little piece”), and compartment (“shared with”). For the origin of the -isan element, check out the Word of the Day bipartisan. Nonpartisan was first recorded in English in the early 1880s.
EXAMPLE OF NONPARTISAN USED IN A SENTENCE
Members of all parties banded together to release an independent, nonpartisan statement about the future of the economy.
More about pizazz
Pizazz, which is also spelled pizzazz, pzazz, and even bezazz, is a term of unknown origin. Along with jazz, razzmatazz, and snazzy, pizazz belongs to a family of slang terms with double z’s that may reflect a longer trend of English speakers using the “zuh” sound to provoke a certain feeling or reaction. The first known instance of pizazz in writing dates to 1912, but it became popular when it appeared in the March 1937 issue of the magazine Harper’s Bazaar.
EXAMPLE OF PIZAZZ USED IN A SENTENCE
Though the singer hit every note, the director advised her to add some more pizazz to her performance to keep the audience’s attention.