Word of the Day
dishabille
noun
the state of being dressed in a careless, disheveled, or disorderly style or manner; undress.
More about dishabille
Dishabille or deshabille “the state of being dressed in a careless, disheveled, or disorderly style or manner,” comes from French déshabillé, the noun use of the past participle of the verb déshabiller “to undress.” The French prefix dés– is a regular development of the Latin prefix dis-, which often has, as here, a reversing force (like un– in the English pair tie and untie). The French verb habiller “to dress,” originally “to trim and smooth (a log for working), to arrange, prepare,” comes from Vulgar Latin adbilāre, abbilāre, a derivative of bilia “log, tree trunk” (originally a Gaulish word). The h– in habiller comes from the French noun habit “clothing” (from Latin habitus “physical condition, appearance, dress”). Dishabille entered English in the 17th century.
how is dishabille used?
It is daylight; is, then, the carriage to open and the empress to alight with one slipper on her feet, to be triumphantly conducted into the house? Ah, my friend, all Europe would smile at the idyllic empress who accompanied her husband on his journey in such a dishabille.
Yes, there are town houses, and yes, many prominent people hold the deeds to them because they don’t want to be seen in dishabille scooping up the morning paper ….
More about chariness
Chary, the adjective from which chariness derives, comes from the Middle English adjective chari, charry, cearig “actively concerned, diligent; sad, sorrowful; cherished (of a person).” Chari comes from the Old English adjective cearig, ceari “careful, grieving, pensive, wary, anxious, dire.” The Old English adjective is a derivative of the noun cearu, caru “sorrow, grief” (Modern English care). Chariness entered English in the 16th century.
how is chariness used?
Nay, I will consent to act any villainy against him, that may not sully the chariness of our honesty.
The reason for the chariness of the broker is that most of his transactions are carried through on credit and he runs many dangers if he cannot have absolute confidence in the integrity, both financial and otherwise, of his client …
melee
noun
confusion; turmoil; jumble.
More about melee
Melee, also spelled mêlée, has been in English since the mid-17th century; yet its spellings and several pronunciations show that it is still not naturalized. Melee comes from Old French melee, meslee, medlee “mixture, argument, confused hand-to-hand fighting,” from Old French mesler, medler, mesdler, from Vulgar Latin misculāre, Latin miscere “to mix.” Medler is also the source of English medley; mesler is the source of the second half of pell-mell (from Middle French pelemele, Old French pesle mesle).
how is melee used?
The fifteen dogs were off leash, creating a melee of barking, squeaking squeaky toys, and the voices of puppy raisers shouting “Leave it!,” “Bring it!,” and “Good puppy!”
A recent tussle between Maduro loyalists and the U.S.-backed opposition for control of Venezuela’s National Assembly descended into a melee of competing claims that left neither side with clear authority over the assembly.