AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com kraken • noun an enormous mythical sea monster said to appear off the coast of Norway. — origin Norwegian. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com herl • noun a barb or filament of a feather used in dressing a fishing fly. — origin late Middle English: apparently of Germanic origin and related to Middle Low German harle. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com cassis • noun [mass noun] a syrupy blackcurrant liqueur produced mainly in Burgundy. — origin French, ‘blackcurrant’, apparently from Latin cassia (see cassia). Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com calamites • noun (pl. same) a swamp plant with jointed stems that belonged to an extinct group related to the horsetails, growing to a height of 18 m (60 ft). Calamites and other genera, family Calamitaceae, class Sphenopsida. — origin modern Latin, from calamus. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com apotropaic • adjective supposedly having the power to avert evil influences or bad luck: apotropaic statues. — derivatives apotropaically adverb. — origin late 19th cent.: from Greek apotropaios ‘averting evil’, from apotrepein ‘turn away or from’ + -ic. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com coulis • noun (pl. same) a thin fruit or vegetable purée, used as a sauce. — origin French, from couler ‘to flow’. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com chaîné • noun (pl. chaînés pronunc. same) Ballet a sequence of fast turns from one foot to the other, executed in a straight line. — origin French, literally ‘linked’. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com shadchan • noun (pl. same , shadchanim , or shadchans) a Jewish professional matchmaker or marriage broker. — origin from Yiddish shadkhn, based on Hebrew siddek ‘negotiate’. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com debitage • noun [mass noun] Archaeology waste material produced in the making of prehistoric stone implements. — origin mid 20th cent.: from French débitage ‘cutting of stone’, from débiter ‘discharge, dispense’. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com peshmerga • noun (pl. same or peshmergas) a member of a Kurdish nationalist guerrilla organization. — origin from Kurdish pêshmerge, from pêsh ‘before’ + merg ‘death’. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com permaculture • noun [mass noun] the development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient. — origin 1970s: blend of permanent and agriculture. Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com vastation • noun [mass noun] archaic or literary 1. the purification of someone or something by the destruction of evil qualities or elements; spiritual purgation. 2. devastation. — origin mid 16th cent.: from Latin vastatio(n-), from vastare ‘lay waste’. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com fictile • adjective technical made of earth or clay by a potter. • relating to pottery or its manufacture. — origin early 17th cent.: from Latin fictilis, from fict- ‘formed, contrived’, from the verb fingere. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com diamantiferous • adjective (of a rock formation, region, etc.) producing or yielding diamonds. — origin late 19th cent.: from French diamantifère, from diamant ‘diamond’ + -fère ‘producing’. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com flic • noun Computing a data file containing computer animations. — origin usage of the cinematographic sense of flick. Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com chitarrone • noun a very large lute similar to a theorbo, used in Italy in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. — origin Italian, literally ‘large guitar’. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com castanets • plural noun small concave pieces of wood, ivory, or plastic, joined in pairs by a cord and clicked together by the fingers as a rhythmic accompaniment to Spanish dancing. — origin early 17th cent.: from Spanish castañeta, diminutive of castaña, from Latin castanea ‘chestnut’. Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com guttate • adjective chiefly Biology resembling drops; having drop-like markings. — origin early 19th cent.: from Latin guttatus ‘speckled’, from gutta ‘a drop’. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com heckelphone • noun a woodwind instrument resembling a large oboe, with a range about an octave lower. — origin early 20th cent.: from German Heckelphon, named after Wilhelm Heckel (1856–1909), German instrument-maker, on the pattern of saxophone. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com thigmotropism • noun [mass noun] Biology the turning or bending of a plant or other organism in response to a touch stimulus. — derivatives thigmotropic adjective. — origin early 20th cent.: from Greek thigma ‘touch’ + tropism. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006

AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com emo • noun [mass noun] a style of rock music resembling punk but having more complex arrangements and lyrics that deal with more emotional subjects. — origin 1990s: short for emotional hardcore. Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Celebrating the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Launching September 2007 Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com Special offer disgo and busbi USB keys - preloaded with a 30 day trial of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: www.clever-stuff.ie We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2006