Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 25, 2023 is:

marginalia • \mahr-juh-NAY-lee-uh\ • noun

Marginalia is a plural noun that refers to notes or other marks written in the margins of a text, and to nonessential matters or items.

// The students loved flipping through their literature textbooks to find the marginalia left behind by former students.

// She found the book's treatment of not only the major events but also the marginalia of Scandinavian history fascinating.

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Examples:

“The last time I wrote about culling books—six years ago—nostalgia was my biggest obstacle. Just about every book I opened contained some sort of ephemera that stopped me: a bookmark from a long-gone bookstore, a scribble from a mostly-forgotten college class, an old photograph or letter, or, most nostalgic of all, my late father’s signature and marginalia.” — Laurie Hertzel, The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota), 14 Aug. 2020

Did you know?

In the introduction to his essay titled “Marginalia,” Edgar Allan Poe wrote: “In getting my books, I have always been solicitous of an ample margin; this not so much through any love of the thing in itself, however agreeable, as for the facility it affords me of penciling suggested thoughts, agreements and differences of opinion, or brief critical comments in general.” At the time “Marginalia” was first published in 1844, marginalia was only a few decades old despite describing something—notes in the margin of a text—that had existed for centuries. An older word, apostille (or apostil), refers to a single annotation made in a margin, but that word is rarely used today. Even if you are not, like Poe, simply ravenous for scribbling in your own books, you likely know marginalia as a telltale sign that someone has read a particular volume before you.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 24, 2022 is:

cornucopia • \kor-nuh-KOH-pee-uh\ • noun

A cornucopia, also known as a horn of plenty, is a curved, hollow goat’s horn or similarly shaped receptacle (such as a horn-shaped basket) that is overflowing, especially with fruit and vegetables. The image of a cornucopia is commonly used as decoration and as a symbol of abundance, but the word cornucopia is today more often encountered in its metaphorical use referring to an overflowing abundance, or to a seemingly inexhaustible amount of something.

// The zoo’s new aviary is a veritable cornucopia of color and sound, with scores of different bird species swooping and squawking through the canopy.

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Examples:

“When I was 11, I moved to Texas and discovered the cornucopia of packaged options in the chips aisle. I quickly grew fond of Salt and Vinegar in particular, but I missed the sharp flavors of the snacks I’d eaten in Karachi ...” — Mariya Karimjee, Bon Appétit, 20 Apr. 2022

Did you know?

Cornucopia comes from the Late Latin cornu copiae, which translates literally as “horn of plenty.” A traditional staple of feasts, the cornucopia is believed to represent the horn of a goat from Greek mythology. According to legend, it was from this horn, which could be filled with whatever the owner wished, that the god Zeus was fed as an infant by his nurse, the nymph Amalthaea. Later, the horn was filled with flowers and fruits, and given as a present to Zeus. The filled horn (or a receptacle resembling it) has long served as a traditional symbol in art and decoration to suggest a store of abundance. The word first appeared in English in the early 16th century; a century later, it developed the figurative sense of “an overflowing supply.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 20, 2022 is:

extirpate • \EK-ster-payt\ • verb

Extirpate means “to destroy completely,” and is often—though not exclusively—used in reference to plant and animal populations. It can also be used to mean “to pull up by the root” and “to cut out by surgery.”

// Despite the years-long effort to extirpate it from the landscape, purple loosestrife continues to thrive in the town’s wetlands.

// The district attorney is vowing to extirpate political corruption from City Hall if she is elected mayor.

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Examples:

“Peregrine falcons were once extirpated from Missouri due to pesticide damage to eggs and habitat loss. They have been on the state’s endangered species list but are being considered for removal, thanks to a cooperative program by Midwestern state and federal wildlife agencies. Re-introductions and nest boxes placed high on tall buildings in cities or power plant smokestacks have boosted their numbers.” — Brian Dulle, Fox4kc.com, 8 July 2021

Did you know?

You don’t have to dig too deep into the history of extirpate to discover that its roots are in, well, roots (and stumps). Extirpate grew out of a combining of the Latin prefix ex-, meaning “out,” and the Latin noun stirps, “trunk” or “root.” Among the earliest definitions of extirpate in English were “to uproot” and “to clear of stumps,” as well as the broader meaning of “to destroy completely” or “wipe out.” While today we often encounter extirpate in relation to plant and animal species that have been regrettably removed from a specific region or in total, intangibles such as evil or prejudice, for example, may also be extirpated. We hope this helps but if you find yourself stumped the next time you encounter extirpate, just remember we’re rooting for you.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 19, 2022 is:

haywire • \HAY-wyre\ • adverb or adjective

Haywire means “being out of order or having gone wrong” or “emotionally or mentally upset or out of control.” It is often used in the phrase “go haywire.”

// The company's emailing system went haywire and sent out multiple copies of the advertisement to its subscribers.

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Examples:

“Something, I suspect, is going haywire in the frying process, an interaction that leads to those off-putting aromas. Is the oil not hot enough, thereby clinging to the [French toast] sticks and leaving behind the flavors of whatever was fried in it previously? Were they fried too long?” — Tim Carman, The Washington Post, 17 Aug. 2022

Did you know?

The noun haywire refers to a type of wire once used in baling hay and sometimes for makeshift repairs. This hurried and temporary use of haywire gave rise to the adjective (and sometimes adverb) haywire. When the adjective was first used in the early 20th century, it was primarily found in the phrase “haywire outfit,” which originally denoted a poorly equipped group of loggers, and then anything that was flimsy or patched together. This led to a “hastily patched-up” sense, which in turn gave us the now-common meaning, “being out of order or having gone wrong.” The “crazy” sense of haywire may have been suggested by the tendency of the relatively weak and rust-prone wire to fail at inopportune times, or to get tangled around legs, or possibly to the disorderly appearance of the temporary repair jobs for which it was used.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 13, 2022 is:

titivate • \TIH-tuh-vayt\ • verb

Titivate means "to make (someone or something) neater or more attractive," and is a synonym of spruce up.

// Her morning routine includes a few minutes spent titivating in front of the mirror.

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Examples:

"From the US seafood seasoning Old Bay ... to lapsang souchong salt, there are numerous ways to titivate chips." — Tony Naylor, The Guardian (London), 22 Jan. 2022

Did you know?

Titivate is a fancy way of saying spruce up, smarten up, or spiff up; all mean "to make a person or thing neater or more attractive." Titivate often refers to making small additions or alterations in attire ("titivate the costume with sequins and other accessories"), but it can also be used figuratively, as in "titivating the script for Broadway." The origins of titivate are uncertain, but it may have been formed by combining tidy and renovate. Spiffy, if true.