Word of the Day
repristinate
verb
to restore to the first or original state or condition.
More about repristinate
Repristinate, “to restore to the first or original state or condition,” is formed from the adjective pristine, with the prefix re-, “back, again,” and the suffix -ate. Pristine comes from Latin pristinus, “early,” which belongs to a small family of Latin words relating to coming before something. Words in this family include prae (“before”), prior and prius (“former,” literally “more before”), and prīmus (“first,” literally “most before”). To see these Latin roots in action today, check out the Words of the Day prefatory, preternatural, and primaveral. Repristinate was first recorded in English in the 1650s.
EXAMPLE OF REPRISTINATE USED IN A SENTENCE
In an effort to attract wildlife, the environmentalists began repristinating the park, bulldozing buildings and planting trees to remove the impact of humans.
tenacious
adjective
holding together; not easily pulled asunder; tough.
More about tenacious
Tenacious, “not easily pulled asunder; tough,” is based on the noun tenacity and the suffix -ous, “full of.” Tenacity comes from Latin tenāx (stem tenāc-), “holding fast,” from the verb tenēre, “to hold.” Tenēre has three common stems in English: ten- (as in lieutenant, tenable, and tenor) and -tin- (as in continue and retinue) as well as -tain (as in abstain, attain, and maintain) by way of French. Tenacious was first recorded in English circa 1605.
EXAMPLE OF TENACIOUS USED IN A SENTENCE
The team remained tenacious even as their rivals came closer and closer to winning the game.
peri
noun
one of a large group of beautiful, fairylike beings of Persian mythology, represented as descended from fallen angels.
More about peri
Peri, “a fairylike being of Persian mythology,” comes from Persian parī, “fairy,” which evolved from pairikā, “witch,” in Avestan, a long-extinct language of southwestern Asia. Though p in most Indo-European languages tends to correspond to English f, peri is not related to fairy, which derives by way of Old French from Latin. However, it is interesting to note that, just as peri evolved in sense from “witch” to “fairy,” an earlier sense of fairy in Old French was “enchantment, witchcraft.” Peri was first recorded in English in the 1770s.
EXAMPLE OF PERI USED IN A SENTENCE
It caught his breath to see the peri slowly descending from the air, floating on its feathered wings.