Word of the Day
ineluctable
adjective
incapable of being evaded; inescapable.
More about ineluctable
Ineluctable “incapable of being evaded” derives from Latin inēluctābilis, equivalent to the prefix in- “not” and the verb ēluctārī “to force a way out or over, surmount.” The latter is a compound of ē-, the prefix version of ex “out of, from,” and the verb luctārī “to struggle, wrestle.” Another English derivative of luctārī is the noun reluctance, which literally means “the state of struggling against,” and if you’re a fan of wrestling, you may have already connected Spanish lucha—as in the phrase lucha libre (literally “free wrestling”)—to luctārī. The evolution of Latin luctārī to Spanish lucha demonstrates a common sound correspondence, namely, that Latin -ct- often (though not always) becomes -ch- in Spanish. Also compare Latin nox (stem noct-) with Spanish noche “night,” Latin octõ with Spanish ocho “eight,” and Latin prōfectus with Spanish provecho “profit.” Ineluctable was first recorded in English circa 1620.
how is ineluctable used?
As a scientist … I operate under the hypothesis that all our thoughts, memories, percepts and experiences are an ineluctable consequence of the natural causal powers of our brain rather than of any supernatural ones. That premise has served science and its handmaiden, technology, extremely well over the past few centuries. Unless there is extraordinary, compelling, objective evidence to the contrary, I see no reason to abandon this assumption.
Superhero flicks are unavoidably formulaic. The heroes are difficult to kill not because of their superpowers, but because they serve a higher power, an industrial blockbuster economy. The superstars each get their screen time, in a loose correlation to their importance to fans. Their defeats are ephemeral, even when they die (or appear to). They are part of the ineluctable journey to a climactic battle, which in turn points the way towards more films.
paschal
adjective
of or relating to Easter or to Passover.
More about paschal
Paschal “of or relating to Easter or to Passover” derives from Late Latin paschālis, of the same meaning, which is the adjectival form of Pascha “Easter, Passover.” Pascha, as with many words in Latin that contain the telltale ch, is adapted from Ancient Greek Páscha, which is itself borrowed from Aramaic pasḥā. The ultimate source is Hebrew pesaḥ “Passover,” derived from the verb pāsaḥ “to pass over.” In this way, Passover is a calque of the original Hebrew term; to learn more about calques, compare the recent Word of the Day inveigle. Unlike the majority of European languages, which use derivatives of Latin Pascha for both Passover and Easter, most Germanic languages derive their term for Easter from the same source as the word east—not, per popular misconception, from a Middle Eastern goddess such as Astara or Ishtar. Paschal was first recorded in English in the early 15th century.
how is paschal used?
Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox (the halfway point between the summer and winter solstices, which is also the first day of spring). This full moon is called the ‘paschal moon’ in the Christian tradition …. Two things happened in the fourth century–the Christian Council of Nicea laid down the first-Sunday-after-the-full-moon formula, and Jewish scholars standardized the date of Passover to a fixed date in the Hebrew calendar. Neither Easter nor Passover have a fixed date in the secular (standard) calendar. On the other hand, both Easter and Passover have a relationship to the paschal moon.
The Last Supper, which is so celebrated in art, was of course a Seder. It was a Passover meal. And this year, as Neal [Conan] said at the beginning, Easter week begins at the same time as Passover. And the echoes of Passover in all of the Easter liturgies are enormous. The symbolism of the Paschal lamb and the Paschal Sacrifice, the meaning of going from slavery to freedom, from death to life, are the same. So there are many, many things that make you feel more together than apart at this season of the year.
indite
verb (used with object)
to compose or write, as a poem.
More about indite
Indite “to compose or write, as a poem” sounds identical to the verb indict, and there’s a good reason for that: both indite and indict were originally the same word, and while indite more directly preserves the Old French spelling of enditer, indict preserves the earlier Latin spelling of indictus “having been announced.” Indictus is the perfect participle of indīcere “to announce, proclaim,” which is based on dīcere “to say, tell.” Dīcere (stem dict-) is the source of speech-related terms such as contradict, valedictorian, and (of course) dictionary, and it comes from the same ultimate source as the recent Word of the Day vendetta. Indite was first recorded in English in the mid-14th century.
how is indite used?
After Chia Cheng had listened to these words, he pondered for a while. “These tablets and scrolls,” he remarked, “present however a difficult task. According to the rites, we should, in order to obviate any shortcoming, request the imperial consort to deign and compose them; but if the honourable consort does not gaze upon the scenery with her own eyes, it will also be difficult for her to conceive its nature and indite upon it!”
If answerable style I can obtain Of my celestial patroness, who deigns Her nightly visitation unimplor’d, And dictates to me slumbering; or inspires Easy my unpremeditated verse: Since first this subject for heroick song Pleas’d me long choosing, and beginning late; Not sedulous by nature to indite Wars, hitherto the only argument Heroick deem’d chief mastery to dissect With long and tedious havock fabled knights In battles feign’d