Word of the Day
uraeus
noun
the sacred asp as represented upon the headdress of divinities and royal personages of ancient Egypt, usually directly over the forehead, as an emblem of supreme power.
More about uraeus
Uraeus, “the sacred asp on ancient Egyptian headdresses,” comes from Late Greek ouraîos, of the same meaning. This ouraîos appears identical to Ancient Greek ouraîos, “of the tail,” but the two likely do not share a deeper origin; while ouraîos, “of the tail,” comes from ourá, “tail,” and is the source of the English combining form uro- (not to be confused with oûron, “urine,” the source of a different uro-), ouraîos, “uraeus,” comes from Egyptian y’rt, “rearing cobra,” which is also transliterated variously as iaret or jꜥrt. Though uraeuses is the standard plural, the alternative uraei appears in some texts. Uraeus was first recorded in English circa 1830.
how is uraeus used?
The uraeus had wide associations, of which one of the most basic was with the cobra goddess Wadjyt …. In addition, the uraeus was the most characteristic mark of the king. Thus the use of the uraeus by the queen may have carried a range of meanings.
In the dim light of the inner temple, we received the symbols of the Pharaoh: the golden crook, the flail, the scepter, robes of linen from Lower Egypt, and ceremonial leather garments. Upon our heads were placed the uraeus of pure gold, Egypt’s guardian serpent.
More about cantrip
Cantrip, “a magic spell,” may not be related to the English verbs can and trip, but that doesn’t mean that its origin is any clearer. One possibility is that cantrip is a variant of Old English calcatrippe, “caltrop,” with the shift from l to n resulting from dissimilation, as we learned about from ensorcell. Calcatrippe is equivalent to Latin calx, “spur, heel” (as in calcaneus, a bone of the heel), plus Old English træppe, “step” (compare modern English trap). Another possibility is that the can- element comes from Latin cantāre, “to sing,” (as in enchant, incantation, and past Word of the Day descant), while -trip element is related not to trap but rather to rope because ropelike objects are a common element in sorcery. Cantrip was first recorded in English in the 1710s.
how is cantrip used?
And that old witch, Eliza—I little guessed she’d play this cantrip on me: But what a jest—Jerusalem, what a jest!
I murmured a cantrip—a quick, common form of magic—and a ball of butterscotch light manifested above my head. I sent it up a flight of rickety stairs…
ensorcell
verb (used with object)
to bewitch.
More about ensorcell
Ensorcell, “to bewitch,” comes from Middle French ensorceler, of the same meaning, which is a dissimilated variant of ensorcerer. Dissimilation refers to when one of two identical sounds in a word happens to change, such as how colonel is pronounced “kur-nl” in US English and February often becomes “feb-yoo-er-ee”; without dissimilation, the two l’s in colonel and the two r’s in February would be preserved in speech. Learn more about dissimilation from the Word of the Day porphyry. Ensorcerer ultimately derives from Latin sors (stem sort-), “lot, fate.” Another descendant of sors today is French sortir, “to exit,” which comes via Latin sortīrī, “to cast lots,” perhaps with the influence of surgere (stem surrēct-), “to spring up, arise, stand up.” Ensorcell was first recorded in English circa 1540.
how is ensorcell used?
He was a hoarder who had all the most beautiful crystal and linens—not to mention Truman Capote’s old sofa—but he never entertained. He sometimes wondered why he could ensorcell so many with his wit and style but not have a lover.