cornucopia
11/24/22 • 2 min
3 Listeners
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.
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 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.
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.”
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vamoose
1 RecommendationsMerriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 23, 2022 is:
vamoose \vuh-MOOSS\ verb
Vamoose is an informal word that means "to depart quickly."
// With the sheriff and his posse hot on their tails, the bank robbers knew they had better vamoose.
Examples:
"[Ali S.] Khan's group packed fast and vamoosed on a small airplane, which rose straight into a thrashing thunderstorm." — David Quammen, The New Yorker, May 4, 2020
Did you know?
In the 1820s and '30s, the American Southwest was rough-and-tumble territory—the true Wild West. English-speaking cowboys, Texas Rangers, and gold prospectors regularly rubbed elbows with Spanish-speaking vaqueros in the local saloons, and a certain amount of linguistic intermixing was inevitable. One Spanish term that caught on with English speakers was vamos, which means "let's go." Cowpokes and dudes alike adopted the word, at first using a range of spellings and pronunciations that varied considerably in their proximity to the original Spanish form. But when the dust settled, the version most American English speakers were using was vamoose.
Next Episode
jejune
2 RecommendationsMerriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 25, 2022 is:
jejune \jih-JOON\ adjective
Jejune is a formal word often used as a synonym of juvenile to describe things (such as behaviors, attitudes, etc.) that are immature, childish, or simplistic. It can also mean "uninteresting" or "boring."
// Her rude and jejune remarks about the painting were entirely unbefitting someone of her stature in the art world.
// The movie adaptation employed surreal visual effects to tell the story, making the plot, jejune in the novel, archetypal rather than artless.
Examples:
"These formulations—'rise up or submit,' 'insist on your autonomy'—border on the jejune. Yes, we live in a world of laws, drudgery, interdependence. But we also live in a world rife with real injustice and, like any concept, freedom is always contextual." — William Finnegan, The New York Times, 17 May 2021
Did you know?
Starved for excitement? You won't get it from something jejune. The term comes to us from the Latin word jejunus, which means "empty of food," "hungry," or "meager." When English speakers first used jejune back in the 1600s, they applied it in ways that mirrored the meaning of its Latin parent, lamenting "jejune appetites" and "jejune morsels." Something that is meager rarely satisfies, and before long jejune was being used not only for meager meals or hunger, but also for things lacking in intellectual or emotional substance. It’s possible that the word gained its now-popular "juvenile" or "childish" sense when people confused it with the look-alike French word jeune, which means "young."
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