Word of the Day
rabble-rouse
verb
to stir up the emotions or prejudices of the public; agitate.
More about rabble-rouse
Rabble-rouse, “to stir up the public’s emotions,” is a back formation from rabble-rouser, which is a compound of the noun rabble, “a disorderly crowd,” and the verb rouse, “to stir to anger.” Rabble is of uncertain origin, but it may be related to Middle Dutch rabbelen, “to speak hurriedly.” An earlier sense of rouse was “to shake the feathers” and referred to hawks, and while the origin of rouse is equally uncertain, one hypothesis is a connection to Latin recūsāre, meaning “to demur, object,” which is the source of English recuse. Rabble-rouse was first recorded in English in the late 1950s.
EXAMPLE OF RABBLE-ROUSE USED IN A SENTENCE
Though at first its organizers were accused of mere rabble-rousing, the civil rights march evolved into a widely-celebrated parade.
retcon
verb
to later revise an established element of a fictional story.
More about retcon
Retcon, “to later revise (an established element of a fictional story),” is a shortening based on the first syllables in retroactive continuity. This type of shortening is called syllabic abbreviation, and other common examples in English include fro-yo (from frozen yogurt), hazmat (from hazardous material), and sitcom (from situation comedy). Ultimately, retroactive is from Latin retrō, “back, backward,” combined with agere (past participle stem āct-), “to do,” while continuity is formed from Latin con-, “with, together,” combined with tenēre (combining stem tin-), “to hold.” Retcon was first recorded in the early 1980s.
EXAMPLE OF RETCON USED IN A SENTENCE
Though the first season showed the doctor naming the family spaceship after her favorite Norse god, later seasons retconned this and gave all the ships that same name.
rangoli
noun
a traditional Hindu decoration on a floor or other flat surface usually made of powder, such as colored or dyed sand, chalk, crushed limestone, or rice flour.
More about rangoli
Rangoli, “a traditional Hindu decoration made of powder produced on a flat surface,” is adapted from rãgoḷī in Marathi, a language native to central and western India with over 90 million speakers. Numerous languages of the Indian subcontinent inherit much of their vocabulary from the classical language Sanskrit, and Marathi is no exception. In this way, rãgoḷī comes from Sanskrit raṅga “color” combined with āvali “line.” Rangoli was first recorded in English in the early 1880s.
EXAMPLE OF RANGOLI USED IN A SENTENCE
The community came together to create a vibrant rangoli on the stone floor of the library’s lobby.