// The material is impervious [ɪmˈpɜr.vi.əs] to water.
// The mayor seems impervious [ɪmˈpɜr.vi.əs] to criticism.impervious
adj [ɪmˈpɜr.vi.əs]
Impervious describes that which does not allow something (such as water or light) to enter or pass through. It is also used formally to mean “not bothered or affected by something.” Both senses of impervious are usually used with to.
The Latin ancestor of impervious is impervius, which adds the prefix im-, meaning “not,” to pervius, meaning “passable or penetrable.” English May 15, 2025, 7:45 AM cowpoke
According to the scuttlebutt [ˈskʌtəlˌbʌt] in the financial markets, the company will be downsizing soon.scuttlebutt [ˈskʌtəlˌbʌt]
noun
Scuttlebutt refers to rumor or gossip—in other words, talk or stories about someone or something that may not be true.
Back in the early 1800s, scuttlebutt (an alteration of scuttled butt) referred to a cask containing a ship’s daily supply of fresh water (scuttle means “to cut a hole through the bottom,” and butt means “cask”); that name was later applied to a drinking fountain on a ship or at a naval installation. English May 14, 2025, 7:10 AM cowpoke
“Scholars ... say witches were believed to be attracted to the scent of a human shoe and, having entered one, found themselves trapped. Footwear is one of a mindboggling array of items used in apotropaic [ˌæp.ə.trəˈpeɪ.ɪk] magic, designed to turn away harm or evil influence.” — Pete Pheasant, The Derby (England) Telegraph, 13 Mar. 2025apotropaic
adj [ˌæp.ə.trəˈpeɪ.ɪk]
Something described as apotropaic is designed or intended to avert evil.
this term is a literal descriptor for things believed to protect against evil. Apotropaic motifs can be found throughout history, from carvings of Greek Gorgons to charms worn to repel the evil eye. The word apotropaic comes from the Greek verb apotrépein, meaning “to turn away from, avert,” combining apo- (“away”) with trépein (“to turn”). English May 13, 2025, 6:55 AM cowpoke
Many unfamiliar terms are glossed [ɡlɔs] in the book’s introduction.gloss [ɡlɔs]
verb
To gloss a word or phrase is to provide its meaning, or in other words, to explain or define it.
Both forms of gloss, as well as the word glossary, trace back to the Greek noun glôssa, meaning “tongue,” “language,” or “obscure word requiring explanation.” English May 9, 2025, 7:50 AM cowpoke
"She comes across as a bumptious [ˈbʌmpʃəs], irritating ten-year-old who believes that her main vice, her steam-roller self-confidence, is a virtue." — Lloyd Evans, The Spectator (London), 17 Aug. 2024bumptious
adj [ˈbʌmpʃəs]
Bumptious describes people who are rudely and often noisily confident or over-assertive. It can also be applied to actions or behaviors that show this same attitude.
...ours notes that it comes from the noun bump and the suffix -tious, echoing other disapproving modifiers including captious ("fault-finding") and fractious ("troublemaking"). English May 7, 2025, 6:41 AM cowpoke
"Smartwatches and smartphones are banned in my children’s schools during the school day, which I’m very happy about; I find any argument for allowing these devices in the classroom to be risible [ˈrɪzəbəl]." — Jessica Grose, The New York Times, 27 Mar. 20risible
adj [ˈrɪzəbəl]
Risible is a formal word used disapprovingly to describe things that deserve to be mocked or laughed at because they are absurd or unreasonable.
Risible, ridiculous, derision, and risorius all come from the Latin verb ridēre, meaning “to laugh.” English May 4, 2025, 9:07 AM cowpoke
We spent hours at the flea market sleuthing [sluːθ] for 19th century paintings.sleuth [sluːθ]
verb
To sleuth is to carefully or methodically search for information, or to act as a detective.
When Middle English speakers first borrowed sleuth from the Old Norse word slōth, the term referred to the track of an animal or person. In Scotland, sleuth hund referred to a kind of bloodhound used to hunt game or track down fugitives from justice. In 19th-century U.S. English, sleuthhound, soon shortened to sleuth, began to be used for a detective. English May 3, 2025, 8:41 AM cowpoke
"The Breuer building, the former home of the Whitney Museum on New York's Upper East Side, counts as one of the defining buildings of the [brutalist] movement. Completed in 1966, it was designed by Marcel Breuer, who envisioned the structure as an inverted ziggurat [ˈzɪɡəˌræt]." — Alex Greenberger, Art in America, 14 Jan. 2025ziggurat
noun [ˈzɪɡəˌræt]
A ziggurat is an ancient Mesopotamian temple consisting of a pyramidal structure built in successive stages with outside staircases and a shrine at the top. The word ziggurat is also sometimes used for a similarly shaped structure.
Through French professor of archaeology François Lenormant studies, he became familiar with the Akkadian word (cuneiform inscriptions) for Mesopotamia’s towering, stepped temples: ziqqurratu, which stepped into English as ziggurat. English May 2, 2025, 7:51 AM cowpoke
“Gladiator II is OK when Denzel’s off-screen, but sensational when he’s on it. ... What makes the performance great is its insouciance [ɪnˈsuːsiəns]; it’s both precise and feather-light. And it’s what a great actor can do when he’s set free to have fun, to laugh at himself a little bit. ... Denzel’s Macrinus is gravitas and comic relief in one package.” — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 22 Nov. 2024insouciance
noun [ɪnˈsuːsiəns]
Insouciance is a formal word that refers to a feeling of carefree unconcern. It can also be understood as a word for the relaxed and calm state of a person who is not worried about anything.
...arrived in English (along with the adjective insouciant), from French, in the 1800s. The French word comes from a combining of the negative prefix in- with the verb soucier, meaning “to trouble or disturb.” English Apr 30, 2025, 7:09 AM cowpoke
The book describes the political travails [trəˈveɪls] of the governor during her first year in office.travail
noun [trəˈveɪl]
Travail is a formal word, usually used in plural, that refers to a difficult experience or situation.
Travail traces back to trepalium, a Late Latin word for an instrument of torture. We don't know exactly what a trepalium looked like, but the word's history gives us an idea. Trepalium comes from the Latin adjective tripalis, which means "having three stakes" (from tri-, meaning "three," and palus, meaning "stake"). English Apr 25, 2025, 7:26 AM cowpoke
