Word of the Day
ungulate
noun
a hoofed mammal.
More about ungulate
Ungulate “a hoofed mammal” derives from Late Latin ungulātus “having claws or hoofs.” The root of this word, Latin ungula “claw, hoof, talon,” may sound a little familiar if you speak a Romance language because it is also the source of many modern words for “fingernail,” such as French ongle, Italian unghia, and Spanish uña. Ungula, literally meaning “little nail,” is a compound of unguis “nail” and the suffix -ula, which is one of several common diminutive affixes in Latin; another such affix is the element -ill-, as featured in the etymology for the recent Word of the Day selection cantillate. Ungulate was first recorded in English circa 1800.
how is ungulate used?
A coronavirus vaccine for deer is … a possibility—scientists have already created them for zoo animals — but the practicality of inoculating millions of free-roaming ungulates would be daunting, to say the least. In the meantime, several states have advised deer hunters to take precautions when dealing with white-tailed deer.
The growing population of wolves in eastern Washington state does not appear to be hurting the populations of deer, elk and other ungulates. A report issued this week by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife looked at ungulate populations between fiscal 2015 and 2017. The report concluded that none of the ungulate populations in the assessment appeared to show clear signs of being limited by predation from wolves.
forfend
verb (used with object)
to defend, secure, or protect.
More about forfend
Forfend “to defend, secure, protect” comes from the Middle English verb forfenden, a compound of the prefix for– and the verb fend. The first element, for-, was frequently used in Middle and Old English to create words with the sense “off, away, extremely” or to imply a negative or prohibitive force, such as forbid, forget, and forgo. The second element, fend, is a reduced form of defend, which derives via French from the Latin verb dēfendere “to repel, ward off” and is a distant relative of bane (from Old English bana “slayer”) and the recent Word of the Day bezoar (from Persian pād-zahr “counterpoison”). Forfend was first recorded in English in the late 14th century.
how is forfend used?
Jellies do not actively hunt but instead use their tentacles as drift nets. Should a fish brush against the often invisible extensions, the pressure prompts the tentacles’ stinging cells to release tiny harpoons packed with neurotoxins. In the most venomous jellyfish, the toxins are designed to work quickly and unequivocally, to forfend any damage to the predator’s delicate tissue.
Ah! do not shrink from thy friend,
If love thou reverest,
But know ’tis for thee to forfend
The fate which thou fearest.
The lot thou hast here to deplore,
Is sad evermore to maintain,
And hardship in sickness is sore,
But sorest in pain.
xebec
noun
a small, three-masted vessel of the Mediterranean, formerly much used by corsairs, now employed to some extent in commerce.
More about xebec
Xebec “a small, three-masted vessel” is an alteration of chebec, which comes by way of French from either Catalan xabec or obsolete Spanish xabeque, from Arabic shabbāk, a small type of ship. In modern Spanish, the older form xabeque is now spelled jabeque; the version with an initial x reflects the earlier use of x to make the “sh” sound, which eventually shifted to the “h” sound. While many Spanish terms that once contained the “sh”-sounding x have since shifted to the modern Spanish “h”-sounding j (such as Don Quixote, which is spelled Don Quijote in modern Spanish), this x—with the modern “h” pronunciation—still exists today in place names such as México, Oaxaca, and even in Bexar, the county in Texas where San Antonio is located. Xebec was first recorded in English in the 1750s.
how is xebec used?
With the nor’-nor’-westerly breeze freshening as the night fell, the ship advanced rapidly on the starboard tack ….
“She is a xebec!” said one of the sailors. “I see the square sails on her mizen.”
“No,” answered another, “she is a pink! see how high in the stern and broad in the bow she is.”
“Xebec or pink, who can tell one from the other at this distance?”
“Isn’t she a polacca with square sails?” remarked another sailor, making a telescope of his hands.
“Heaven help us anyhow!” said old Gozzo. “Polacca, pink, or xebec, they are all three-masters, and three masts are worth more than two when they come ashore with a good cargo of wine from Crete, or stuffs from Smyrna!”
Returning from a visit to the city in his gig one night Captain Bainbridge was grossly insulted by the commander of a Spanish xebec which was anchored in the harbor as a guard boat. In vulgar and abusive language the Spaniard ordered the gig to come alongside, and, as no attention was paid to the insult, several musket shots were fired. Supposing that some mistake had been made, Captain Bainbridge ran alongside the xebec and explained who he was, but, not satisfied with this, the commander of the guard boat insisted on his coming aboard. Captain Bainbridge replied that, as the commander of an American frigate, he considered it beneath his dignity to comply with such an impudent request, and ordering his men to shove off, he pulled for the Essex in spite of the Spaniard’s repeated threats of firing on him.