Word of the Day

[D. Allan]

...tug-of-war...

The word contronym refers to words that are their own antonyms, because they have a homonym which is also an antonym. Other names for such words are antagonym, auto-antonym, self-antonym and Janus word.

Some examples of such words are:

bolt –to run away : bolt –to secure

cleave –to separate : cleave –to adhere

dust –to add fine particles : dust –to remove fine particles

fast –quick : fast –unmoving

rent –to buy to the use of : rent –to sell the use of

You will find many more at these sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_self-contradicting_words_in_English

http://www.fun-with-words.com/nym_autoantonyms.html

[Gail]

Word of the Day: Ken (Noun)

Pronunciation: ['ken]

Definition: Would you believe that Barbie's boyfriend's name means (1) vision, foresight, knowledge—or (2) a house where unsavory characters gather (British criminal argot)? Well, today's is a different word though pronounced the same.

Usage: The use of the verb from which today's word derives is limited pretty much to Scotland and, perhaps, northern England today, where it means "to know, understand, recognize." The past tense may be "kenned" or "kent," as in I dinnae ken where tae start "I didn't know where to start."

Suggested Usage: It is most commonly met elsewhere in expressions of extent of knowledge, such as "That lies outside my ken of the subject" or "Barbie's preferences in bubble-gum are certainly within Ken's ken (or Ken's kin's ken)." Don't forget to try the verb, too, when you visit the land of kilts and pipes, "You wouldnae ken him without his toupee."

Etymology: From Old English cennan possibly from Old Norse kenna "to know," akin to German kennen "to recognize" and, of course, English "know." Other relatives include the [gn] in Latin cognoscere "be acquainted with," which underlies our "cognizant," "recognize" and others, and ingnorare "to not know," which led to our "ignore" and "ignorant." On the Greek side of the family, we find gnosis "knowledge," the root of words like "diagnosis," "prognosis," and others. Finally—and closer to home—the English word "couth" originally meant "(well-)known" and "kith" of "kith and kin" fame, set out as cyththu "knowledge, acquaintance." The loss of the nasalization [n] is not uncommon among Indo-European languages.

—Dr. Language, yourDictionary.com

[D. Allan]

pleonasm (PLEE-uh-naz-uhm), noun:

1. The use of more words than are necessary to express an idea; as, "I saw it with my own eyes."

2. An instance or example of pleonasm as “free gift” or “true fact”.

3. A superfluous word or expression.

—Related forms

pleonastic, adjective

pleonastically, adverb

“Dougan uses many words where few would do, as if pleonasm were a way of wringing every possibility out of the material he has, and stretching sentences a form of spreading the word.”

- Paula Cocozza, "Book review: How Dynamo Kiev beat the Luftwaffe", Independent, March 2, 2001

“Such a phrase from President Nixon's era, much favored by politicians, is 'at this moment in time.' Presumably these five words mean 'now.' That pleonasm probably does little harm except, perhaps, to the reputation of the speaker.”

- Eoin McKiernan, "Last Word: Special Relationships", Irish America, August 31, 1994

Pleonasm is from Greek pleonasmos, from pleon, "greater, more."

[D. Allan]

"Pleonasm" is the opposite of "oxymoron."

Click on MORE PLEONASMS for a list from

ABM missile

to

youthful teenagers.

There, also, is to be found 27 amusing pleonastic sentences/sayings such as:

"It's deja vu all over again"

and

"Cure suggestibility with hypnosis."

And for the somewhat religious:

"I used to be an agnostic, but now I’m not so sure."

Let's hear some of your pleonastic inventions.

[Gail]

Word of the Day: Niveous (Adj.)

Pronunciation: ['niv-ee-ês]

Definition: Resembling snow, snow-like.

Usage: The noun is nivosity.

Suggested Usage: Although snow is mostly out of season, if you happen to live near cottonwood trees, you can improvise: "With the cottonwood's shedding, it's beginning to look quite niveous outside." And keep it handy for when holidays come back around: "I bought my niece a glass sphere filled with water and a niveous flakes for a Christmas gift" (translation: snow globe).

Etymology: From Latin niveus, from nix (nig-s), niv- "snow" which developed into French neige, Spanish nieve, and Italian neve. The underlying PIE from, believe it or not, is *sneigwh-, with several sounds that have worn off over the years. So the same PIE root gave us English "snow" and Slavic (Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian) sneg "snow."

—Dr. Language, yourDictionary.com

[Gail]

One of the most interesting lectures I ever attended was on the subject of pigmentation. Today's word has to do with that:

Word of the Day: Piebald (Adjective)

Pronunciation: ['pI-bald]

Definition: Since few people bake hairy pies (intentionally) any more, this word obviously does not mean what it seems to mean; it means having patches of different colors, particularly black and white spots. It is used most frequently in reference to animals, as in "piebald magpie"—what does that make you think of? It is also used to refer to any motley mixture of mongrel qualities, as the English language, with words from almost every language on earth, is as piebald a language as ever there was.

Usage: As you see from the definition, few words in English are more misleading than "piebald" ("magpie" being one that does). The qualitative noun is "piebaldness" and the adverb would be "piebaldly," were there a use for it. This adjective may itself be used as a noun to refer to a piebald horse or other animal as well as a verb meaning "acquiring patches of different colors."

Suggested Usage: As a metaphor, today's word is used mainly in the sense of a patchwork, "We have such a piebald array of attitudes on our team, it is difficult to complete tasks on time." But don't forget "piebald" also works as a verb, "First my head balded in my 50's, now my skin is piebalding."

Etymology: From "pie," a derivative of Latin pica "magpie" + "bald" from "balled" in the sense of having been made look like a ball. [if you are about to eat, stop reading here.] "Magpie" itself is the shorter form of "maggot-pie." (You were warned.)

—Dr. Language, yourDictionary.com

[nuff sed]

Does anyone remember that report that went around many years ago using big words that sounded bad but weren't. I think that it had to do with a couple on a college campus...One of the thinks they were accused of was "premarital interdigitation"..........(handholding) I sure would like to get a copy if anyone remembers it and has it in their file somewhere

[D. Allan]

rebarbative (ree-BAR-buh-tiv), adjective:

Serving or tending to irritate or repel.

Over the past couple of hours a lot of rebarbative, ulcerated and embittered people had been working hard at bedding their resentments down in sensory-deprivation tanks full of alcohol.

- Will Self, The Sweet Smell of Psychosis

I still think this true, yet can't help regret the unretrievable hours lavished on so much rebarbative critical prose, convinced that the nearly impenetrable must be profound.

- Michael Dirda, "In which our intrepid columnist visits the Modern Language Association convention and reflects on what he found there", Washington Post, January 28, 2001

Rebarbative comes from French rébarbatif, "stern, surly, grim, forbidding," from Middle French rebarber, "to be repellent," from re- (from the Latin) + barbe, "beard" (from Latin barba.)

Is it irritating to be scratched with a stiff two-day old beard?

[D. Allan]

risible (RIZ-uh-buhl), adjective:

1. Capable of laughing; disposed to laugh.

2. Exciting or provoking laughter; worthy of laughter; laughable; amusing.

3. Relating to, connected with, or used in laughter; as, "risible muscles."

Before long, I began to read aloud with my father, chanting the strange and wondrous rivers -- Shenandoah, Rappahannock, Chickahominy -- and wrapping my tongue around the risible names of rebel generals: Braxton Bragg, Jubal Early, John Sappington Marmaduke, William "Extra Billy" Smith, Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard.

- Tony Horwitz, Confederates in the Attic

All twelve selected are thoughtful, small and funny in both senses of the word: odd and risible.

- Stefan Kanfer, "Of Cats, Myths and Pizza", Time, December 11, 1989

But Lionel . . . is not a risible character, even though he is often called "freakshow" and "crazyman."

- Adam Mazmanian, "Postmodern PI", Washington Post, November 7, 1999

Risible comes from Late Latin risibilis, from the past participle of Latin ridere, "to laugh, to laugh at." The noun form is risibility.

-Dictionary.com

[Gail]

Word of the Day: Busk (Verb)

Pronunciation: ['bêsk]

Definition: To play music or entertain on the street for money.

Usage: Please don't confuse today's word with brux "to clench or grind one's teeth." Walking by someone who busks badly might make you brux, but the two words are very different. Those who busk are buskers, noted for their busking.

Suggested Usage: Today's word can be used pejoratively, "I had no idea Donny busked as a mime during lunch hour, or I would bring him sandwiches in the public interest." But busking is, in fact, a proud tradition in many European cities, and some fine music can be heard on street corners and city centers across the continent: "Harry and Harriet busked their way across Europe and returned home with enough money left over to start their own nightclub."

Etymology: From the English busk "to be an itinerant performer," which came from busk "to seek or cruise, as a pirate ship." Busk probably comes from French busquer "to prowl," and the French comes from either Italian buscare "to prowl" or Spanish buscar "to seek."

—Dr. Language, yourDictionary.com

[Gail]

I like watching and listening to buskers!

[D. Allan]

osculation (os-kyuh-LAY-shuhn), noun:

1. the act of kissing.

2. a kiss.

3. close contact.

4. Geometry. the contact between two osculating curves or the like.

os'cu·la·to'ry , adjective

He had engaged in nervous osculation with all three of Lord Flamborough's daughters.

- Thomas Sutcliffe, "The art of seduction, the skill of the tackle", Independent, June 13, 1994

Their incessant onstage osculations during her last concert tour seemed to offer public proof of their passion.

- "The Big Boom in Breakups", People, November 13, 1995

Osculation comes from osculatio, "a kissing," from osculari, "to kiss," from osculum, "a little mouth, a kiss," diminutive of os, "mouth."

- www.dictionary.com

[Gail]

Yikes! I'm guilty of this! Not to be confused with "digame" (Spanish)- Gail

Word of the Day: Digamy (Noun)

Pronunciation: ['di-gê-mi]

Definition: A second marriage after a divorce or the passing of a spouse, deuterogamy.

Usage: Bigamy is marriage to two spouses simultaneously; digamy is marriage to two spouses in succession. Polygamy is marriage to several partners simultaneously—"polygyny" refers to having several wives while "polyandry" refers to having several husbands. The adjective for today's noun is "digamous" and sounds like "bigamous."

Suggested Usage: The English language is rich in words referring to multiple spouses; clearly spousal affiliation is an important social issue among us and we must have terms to refer to all its aspects. Digamy has become almost as common as marriage since the more or less united states of North America began legalizing divorce in the 60s. "All my friends become digamous so fast, it is difficult to say that that none are bigamous." Digamy has become an aspect of family life that many US families in the post-Vietnam era have had to make allowances for.

Etymology: From Greek digamia "marriage twice" based on dis "twice" + gamos "marriage." The synonym of today's word, "deuterogamy," comes from Greek deuteros "second" + "gamos" and is related to the name of the fifth book of the Bible, Deuteronomy from Greek deuteronomion "second law" from deuteros "second" + nom- "law."

—Dr. Language, yourDictionary.com

[D. Allan]

sub rosa (suhb-ROH-zuh),

adverb:

1. Secretly; privately; confidentially.

adjective:

1. Designed to be secret or confidential; secretive; private.

"Unlike progressive educators of the past, who openly proclaimed their goals, today's multiculturalists are generally unwilling to engage the wider public in open debate about their methods, preferring to promote their agenda [color:#6600CC] sub rosa."

- Sol Stern, "Losing Our Language", Commentary, May 1999

"Second, Abramson argues that since a certain amount of jury nullification goes on anyway, sub rosa, it should be brought out into the open."

- Richard A. Posner, "Juries on trial", Commentary, March 1, 1995

"The investigators said that a major purpose of the sub-rosa activities was to create so much confusion, suspicion and dissension that the Democrats would be incapable of uniting after choosing a presidential nominee."

- Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, "FBI Finds Nixon Aides Sabotaged Democrats", Washington Post, October 10, 1972

"The atmosphere of gloom and dislocation only thickened, though, and Marty found himself in over his head in a world of shadowy fixers, sub-rosa deputies of the C.I.A. and the mob."

- Stephen Metcalf, "Fraud S&M and St. Francis: A Riotous Bull-Market Fable", New York Observer, March 25, 2002

Sub rosa comes from the Latin, literally "under the rose," from the ancient association of the rose with confidentiality, the origin of which traces to a famous story in which Cupid gave Harpocrates, the god of silence, a rose to bribe him not to betray the confidence of Venus. Hence the ceilings of Roman banquet-rooms were decorated with roses to remind guests that what was spoken sub vino (under the influence of wine) was also sub rosa.

from www.dictionary.com

"The phrase sub rosa derives from the Latin and means under the rose or confidentiality. The rose was the emblem of the god Horus in ancient Egypt. Later the Greeks and Romans regarded this as god of silence. This originates from a Greek/Roman misinterpretation of an Egyptian hieroglyphic adopting Horus along with Isis and Osiris as a god. The Greeks translated his Egyptian name Har-pa-khered to Harpocrates.

The rose's connotation for secrecy also dates back to Greek mythology. Aphrodite gave a rose to her son Eros, the god of love; he, in turn, gave it to Harpocrates, the god of silence, to ensure that his mother's indiscretions (or those of the gods in general, in other accounts) were kept under wraps.

Paintings of roses on the ceilings of Roman banquet rooms were also a reminder that things said under the influence of wine (sub vino) should also remain sub rosa.

In the Middle Ages a rose suspended from the ceiling of a council chamber similarly pledged all present (those under the rose) to secrecy.

In current times, the term is actually used by the Scottish Executive's office for a specific type of "off the record" meetings.

In a number of European countries a "sub rosa remark" is deemed to infer sexual innuendo or at the very least a blow below the belt.

More recently sub rosa activities have become a byword for covert operations, usually by security services. Originating primarily in the USA, this meaning has been gradually spreading to other countries and in particular the United Kingdom."

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub_rosa

[D. Allan]

English has the largest vocabulary and the greatest number of synonyms of any language in the world. This is due to the fact that the English language has grown by constantly incorporating words from other languages as well as freely created new multiword terms or phrases.

Near synonyms in English are therefore of many kinds. Some groups of similar words, like foreword, preface, introduction, seem to overlap in meaning. Some, like plain, steppe, pampas, prairie, savannah, and tundra refer to geographical variants of the same thing. Others, like teach, educate, indoctrinate, instruct, school, and tutor, differ from each other mainly in degrees of generality or specification. Some words of similar meaning make distinctions at the concrete, descriptive level: cant, careen, heel, list, slant, slope, tilt, tip are synonyms only if translated into a more general form, incline. Some groups of words describe the same actions, but imply different relationships. Some differences between and among words reveal varying degrees of formality in the occasions being described.

There are really no exact synonyms, especially when one considers the total range of contexts in which a word may be used. No two words are interchangeable in all the contexts in which either might appear. But within a given context, there is some exact synonymy. And we must keep in mind that words continually change in meaning according to time and place and circumstance - though there is also plenty of stability in the English vocabulary, too.

So, this is why English has thesauri - but also why lexicographers urge people to use a thesaurus with a dictionary. Nothing is as important as clear and accurate expression and to this end one must be able to distinguish between words of similar, but not identical, meaning. To choose wrongly may give the listener or reader an erroneous impression. To choose well is to make oneself understood. The study of the differences among similar words will help people come closer to saying what they really mean.

- from http://dictionary.reference.com/features/wordtraveler25.html

[D. Allan]

logos

1587 A.D., "second person of the Christian Trinity," from Gk. logos "word, speech, discourse," also "reason," from PIE base *leg- "to collect" (with derivatives meaning "to speak," on notion of "to pick out words"); used by Neo-Platonists in various metaphysical and theological senses and picked up by N.T. writers. Other Eng. formations from logos include logolatry "worship of words, unreasonable regard for words or verbal truth" (1810 in Coleridge); logomachy "fighting about words" (1569); logomania (1870); logophobia (1923); and logorrhea (1902).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

Logos (LOW-gohs), noun

Philosophy

a. In pre-Socratic philosophy, the principle governing the cosmos, the source of this principle, or human reasoning about the cosmos.

b. Among the Sophists, the topics of rational argument or the arguments themselves.

c. In Stoicism, the active, material, rational principle of the cosmos; nous. Identified with God, it is the source of all activity and generation and is the power of reason residing in the human soul.

d. In biblical Judaism, the word of God, which itself has creative power and is God's medium of communication with the human race.

e. In Hellenistic Judaism, a hypostasis associated with divine wisdom.

2. Judaism

a. In biblical Judaism, the word of God, which itself has creative power and is God's medium of communication with the human race.

b. In Hellenistic Judaism, a hypostasis associated with divine wisdom.

3. Christianity

In Saint John's Gospel, especially in the prologue (1:1-14), the creative word of God, which is itself God and incarnate in Jesus. Also called Word.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

[D. Allan]

metrosexual (met.roh.SEK.shoo.ul) noun

An urban male with a strong aesthetic sense who spends a great deal of time and money on his appearance and lifestyle.

—metrosexuality noun

Example Citations:

At dinner the other night, my date listed the calorie count of the main entrees, raising an eyebrow at my chicken Alfredo selection after he had ordered a salad. I saw him check his reflection in the silver water pitcher three times. During dessert, he looked deeply into my eyes and told me he thought what we have together is very special. It was our third date.

It was then that I realized why my dating life has been as mysterious as the Bermuda Triangle since I arrived in Washington. This city, unlike any other place I've lived, is a haven for the [color:#6600CC] metrosexual. A metrosexual, in case you didn't catch any of several newspaper articles about this developing phenomenon (or the recent "South Park" episode on Comedy Central), is a straight man who styles his hair using three different products (and actually calls them "products"), loves clothes and the very act of shopping for them, and describes himself as sensitive and romantic. In other words, he is a man who seems stereotypically gay except when it comes to sexual orientation.

—Alexa Hackbarth, "Vanity, Thy Name Is Metrosexual," The Washington Post, November 17, 2003

The typical [color:6600CC]metrosexual is a young man with money to spend, living in or within easy reach of a metropolis — because that's where all the best shops, clubs, gyms and hairdressers are. He might be officially gay, straight or bisexual, but this is utterly immaterial because he has clearly taken himself as his own love object and pleasure as his sexual preference. Particular professions, such as modeling, waiting tables, media, pop music and, nowadays, sport, seem to attract them but, truth be told, like male vanity products and herpes, they're pretty much everywhere.

—Mark Simpson, "Meet the metrosexual," Salon.com, July 22, 2002

Earliest Citation:

The promotion of metrosexuality was left to the men's style press, magazines such as The Face, GQ, Esquire, Arena and FHM, the new media which took off in the Eighties and is still growing (GQ gains 10,000 new readers every month). They filled their magazines with images of narcissistic young men sporting fashionable clothes and accessories. And they persuaded other young men to study them with a mixture of envy and desire.

Some people said unkind things. American GQ, for example, was popularly dubbed ''Gay Quarterly''. Little wonder that all these magazines — with the possible exception of The Face — address their metrosexual readership as if none of them were homosexual or even bisexual.

—Mark Simpson, "Here come the mirror men," The Independent, November 15, 1994

Notes:

A metrosexual is a clotheshorse wrapped around a dandy fused with a narcissist. Like soccer star David Beckham, who has been known to paint his fingernails, the metrosexual is not afraid to embrace his feminine side. Why "metrosexual"? The metro- (city) prefix indicates this man's purely urban lifestyle, while the -sexual suffix comes from "homosexual," meaning that this man, although he is usually straight, embodies the heightened aesthetic sense often associated with certain types of gay men.

Mark Simpson invented this term in 1994 (see the earliest citation), and it drifted slowly from one media source to another throughout the rest of 1990s and early 2000s. Then Simpson wrote another article about metrosexuals in the online magazine Salon.com on July 22, 2002, and the term took off. Since then it has been picked up by thousands of media outlets, has made numerous TV appearances, has spawned at least a couple of books, and has been dropped in untold numbers of cocktail party conversations. There is no escaping the metrosexual.

The second example citation gives Simpson's succinct description of the metrosexual type from his Salon.com article.

- http://www.wordspy.com/words/metrosexual.asp

[monica]

Quite interesting, D. Allan.

[D. Allan]

I thought so too, monica.

[D. Allan]

horripilation (haw-rip-uh-LEY-shun, ho- ), noun

the bristling of the body hair, as from fear or cold; goose bumps

[Late Latin horripilātiō, horripilātiōn-, from Latin horripilātus, past participle of horripilāre, to bristle with hairs :

horrēre, to tremble + pilāre, to grow hair (from pilus, hair).]

related words:

horripilate, verb

horripilated

horripilating

synonym: pilomotor reflex

Cats exhibit a most obvious [color:#6600CC] horripilation when frightened.

[D. Allan]

snuggery (SNUG-uh-ree) noun

A snug, cozy place. chiefly British

[From snug, perhaps of Scandinavian origin.]

"The day when the Winter Olympics could be held in lovely mountain [color:#6600CC] snuggeries like St. Moritz and Cortina has long passed."

- John Powers; Expansion Put Games on a Grander Scale; Boston Globe; Feb 24, 1992.

http://wordsmith.org/awad/archives/0107

[Gail]

Word of the Day: Monomania (Noun)

Pronunciation: [mah-nê-'mey-niyê]

Definition: Fixation on or obsession with a single object or idea.

Usage: People with a single-minded obsession are monomaniacs and they behave monomaniacally.

Suggested Usage: Here is a variant of "obsessive" that can be applied to any kind of single-minded obsession. "He is a football monomaniac and never watches anything else on TV" or "The media's monomaniacal focus on the election results is driving ME crazy."

Etymology: Greek mono-s "alone, only, solitary" + mania "passion, enthusiasm, madness." Monos also underlies most English words beginning with "mono-" such as "monotheism, monopoly, monotony" but also "monk" and "monastery," a place of solitude. "Mania" is related to English "mad," and via Latin to "mental, mention, money, memory."

—Dr. Language, yourDictionary.com

[D. Allan]

Today's word is a comical neologism (made-up word) coined in the USA about 175 years ago. You probably will enjoy using it.

ab.squat.u.late (āb-skwŏch'ə-lāt') (ab-skwoch-uh-leyt) intr.verb

ab.squat.u.lat.ed,

ab.squat.u.lat.ing,

ab.squat.u.lates

Midwestern & Western U.S.

a. To depart in a hurry; abscond: " [color:#CC6600] Your horse has absquatulated!" (Robert M. Bird).

b. To die.

[Mock-Latinate formation, purporting to mean "to go off and squat elsewhere".]

In the 19th century, the vibrant energy of American English appeared in the use of Latin affixes to create jocular pseudo-Latin "learned" words. There is a precedent for this in the language of Shakespeare, whose plays contain scores of made-up Latinate words. Midwestern and Western U.S. absquatulate has a prefix ab-, "away from," and a suffix -ate, "to act upon in a specified manner," affixed to a nonexistent base form -squatul-, probably suggested by squat. Hence the whimsical absquatulate, "to squat away from." Another such coinage is Northern busticate, which joins bust with -icate by analogy with verbs like medicate. Southern argufy joins argue to a redundant -fy, "to make; cause to become." Today, these creations have an old-fashioned and rustic flavor curiously at odds with their elegance. They are kept alive in regions of the United States where change is slow. For example, Appalachian speech is characterized by the frequent use of words such as recollect, aggravate, and oblige.

-The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

[D. Allan]

defenestrate (dee-FEN-uh-strayt), transitive verb:

To throw out of a window.

“Some of his apparent chums . . . would still happily defenestrate him if they caught him near a window.”

-- Andrew Marr, "No option bar the radical one", Independent, July 5, 1994

“I defenestrated a clock to see if time flies!”

-- Lane Smith, quoted in "Who's News", Time for Kids, September 25, 1998

"A woman, driven to fury by the manner in which her lover prefers to lavish his attention on a match on the telly rather than her, starts to throw his possessions out of the window. He's finally moved to stop her when she tries to defenestrate his new Puma boots."

-- Jim White, "Budgets substantial enough to buy most of the clubs in the Endsleigh", Independent, April 6, 1996

Defenestrate is derived from Latin de-, "out of" + fenestra, "window." The noun form is defenestration.

- www.dictionary.com

[D. Allan]

nascent (NAS-uhnt; NAY-suhnt), adjective:

Beginning to exist or having recently come into existence; coming into being.

"But there are other nascent technologies that are widely predicted to play a major part in moving the world from a dependence on oil, nuclear energy and coal."

"Out of thin air", The Guardian, Octobe- r 31, 2001

"By the time that John D. Rockefeller was born in 1839, Richford was acquiring the amenities of a small town. It had some nascent industries . . . plus a schoolhouse and a church."

- Ron Chernow, TitanThe Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

"This surprising success prompted several other companies to enter this nascent market."

- Ted Gioia, The History of Jazz

Nascent comes from Latin nascens, "being born," present participle of nasci, "to be born."

A newly born hippopotamus swims under the protection of its mother called "Seventh Daughter"

at the Tianjin Zoo 75 miles southeast of Beijing.