Word of the Day
umpteenth
adjective
of an indefinitely large number in succession.
More about umpteenth
Umpteenth, “of an indefinitely large number,” is the ordinal form of the cardinal number umpteen, which itself is based on umpty, a term for an indeterminate number, and the combining form -teen, a variant of ten. Umpty originated as a slang word to refer to the dash (—) in Morse code, with the ump- part a fanciful designation and the -ty part inspired by numbers such as twenty and thirty. Because the elements -ty and -teen are both related to ten, the change from umpty to umpteen essentially swaps one “ten” for another. Umpteenth was first recorded in English in the late 1910s.
how is umpteenth used?
Maybe you’ve already finished the umpteenth binge-watch of your favorite show, or you’re just in a very different headspace than you were a few months ago.
One of gaming’s greatest heroes, Super Mario, must rescue Princess Peach for the umpteenth time in New Super Mario Bros. 2, a fresh game from the Japanese developers at Nintendo who have been creating interactive adventures for their plumber protagonist for more than a generation.
obelize
verb (used with object)
to mark a word or passage with − or ÷ to point out spurious, corrupt, doubtful, or superfluous words or passages.
More about obelize
Obelize, “to mark with a symbol to point out concerning text,” comes from Ancient Greek obelízein, which is equivalent to obelós plus the verb-forming suffix -izein, “-ize.” Obelós means “spit, pointed pillar,” and the latter definition might ring a bell because it is this sense that appears in English obelisk. The term obelós is, unfortunately, of uncertain origin, but despite the common association between obelisks and ancient Egypt, obelós does not appear to be of Egyptian origin. Instead, the substantial variation in the spelling of obelós across multiple dialects of Ancient Greek suggests that the word is of mysterious pre-Greek origin, similar to the recent Words of the Day bibliophile, feijoada, and porphyry. Obelize was first recorded in English circa 1610.
how is obelize used?
During the last two years, apart from much else, I have emended the Letters of St. Jerome, obelizing what was false and spurious and explaining the obscure passages with notes.
Editors … are prone to advertise their critical restraint by obelizing the passage—that is, by isolating it within daggers † † like some infectious case of illness, and leaving it as it stands.
diglot
adjective
spoken, written, or containing similar information in two different languages.
More about diglot
Diglot “containing similar information in two different languages” comes from Ancient Greek díglōttos, which is equivalent to di- “twice, double” and -glōttos, a derivative of glôssa (also glôtta) “tongue.” In this way, diglot is the Ancient Greek-origin equivalent of bilingual, from Latin bi- “twice” and lingua “tongue.” While di- and bi- are distantly related, as we learned from the Word of the Day diphthongize, glôssa is not related to lingua. Instead, glôssa is the source of glossary, glottal, and the Word of the Day polyglot, and its resemblance to gloss “a superficial luster or shine” is merely coincidental. Diglot was first recorded in English in the early 1860s.
how is diglot used?
All lessons and post-primer readers had been translated into Telugu in a diglot version. To support and encourage the newly literate to put their new skills into immediate use, government brochures and pamphlets and development information were translated and published and a monthly newsletter was issued.
He has been published in many anthologies, both nationally and internationally [and] has thousands of articles/essays as well as poems and short stories published online to his credit. A diglot writer, Izunna writes perfectly in Igbo and English languages, and has published widely in both languages.