A small but influential cadre [ˈkæˌdɹeɪ] of students ultimately persuaded their peers and then the administration to change the school’s mascot.cadre
noun [ˈkæˌdɹeɪ]
Broadly, cadre can refer to any group of people with a unifying relationship, as in “a cadre of lawyers,” or “a cadre of sportswriters.” More specifically, cadre can also be used for a group of people who are trained in a role or task, and who in turn can train others.
(via French and Italian) of the Latin word for square, quadrum: cadre.
A sense of cadre referring to a metaphorical framework for something (such as a novel or curriculum) soon developed. English Oct 26, 2023, 7:52 AM cowpoke
He regaled [ɹɪˈɡeɪl] his party guests with stories of his adventures abroad.regale [ɹɪˈɡeɪl]
verb
somewhat formal
1) to entertain or amuse by telling stories, describing experiences, etc.” It is often followed by with.
adapted from the French word régaler. That word traces back to the Middle French verb galer, which means “to have a good time.” (Gala, meaning “a festive celebration,” is from the same source.)
Today, regale still applies when someone is entertaining or amusing another, especially by sharing stories. Regale - a noun meaning “a sumptuous feast.” English Oct 24, 2023, 5:02 AM cowpoke
Wildfires also emerged at tough-to-control voracity [və˞ˈɹæsəti, (NOT veracity)] and speed, ravaging hundreds of thousands of acres across southern Europe and the U.S. Pacific Northwest.voracity (NOT veracity)
noun [və˞ˈɹæsəti]
1) an immoderate eagerness or enthusiasm for something
2) an intense desire to eat or consume something.
Voracity comes to us (via Middle French) from the Latin word voracitas, which itself comes from the combining of vorax, meaning “voracious,” with -itas, the Latin equivalent of the English noun suffix -ity.
voraciousness also works English Oct 11, 2023, 5:29 AM cowpoke
Voyageurs National Park - Minnesota
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyageurs_National_Park]This park protecting four lakes near the Canada–US border is a site for canoeing, kayaking, and fishing. The park also preserves a history populated by Ojibwe Native Americans, French fur traders called voyageurs, and gold miners. Formed by glaciers, the region features tall bluffs, rock gardens, islands, bays, and several historic buildings. USNPs Oct 9, 2023, 5:05 AM cowpoke
At the zenith [ˈzinəθ] of her music career in the early 2000s, she released her best-selling album to date.zenith
noun [ˈzinəθ]
Zenith refers to the strongest or most successful period of time for a person or thing.
When you reach the zenith, you're at the top, the pinnacle, the summit, the peak.
Zenith developed from an Arabic phrase meaning "the way over one's head," and then traveled through Old Spanish, Medieval Latin, and Middle French before arriving in English.
Figuratively, nadir simply means "the lowest point." English Sep 18, 2023, 5:06 AM cowpoke
Whether a subtle whiff of campfire on a cool autumn breeze or the less-than-subtle lure of a pumpkin spice latte, the spicy, savory harbingers [ˈhɑrbəndʒə˞] of fall spark a shift in the food and wine we crave.harbinger
noun [ˈhɑrbəndʒə˞]
N for something that foreshadows, or gives an early indication of, something that will happen in the future.
When you consider the oldest, now-obsolete definitions of harbinger... The first is Butterbur himself: coming from the Anglo-French herberge, meaning “lodgings,”... Later on, harbinger was also used for a person sent ahead of a main party to seek lodgings. English Sep 14, 2023, 4:15 AM cowpoke
In marketing the product this way, the company has thrown down the gauntlet [ˈɡɔntlət] to its top two competitors.gauntlet
noun [ˈɡɔntlət]
Gauntlet was first used in English to refer to the reinforced glove worn with a suit of armor in the Middle Ages. Gauntlet later came to refer to any long, heavy glove worn to protect the hand, as well as to an open challenge to an argument, fight, competition, etc., usually in the common phrase “throw down the gauntlet.”
from the Middle French word gantelet, the diminutive of gant, meaning “glove” English Sep 4, 2023, 6:23 AM cowpoke
Experts will assay [æˈseɪ] the gold to determine its purity.assay
verb [æˈseɪ]
Assay is a technical word meaning "to test something (such as a metal or drug) to find out what it contains or to assess its value."
Middle French word essai, meaning "test" or "effort." (Essai, in turn, comes from the Late Latin word exagium, meaning "act of weighing.") English Aug 28, 2023, 5:28 AM cowpoke
After a long, eight-hour drive, we were rewarded with a mild, balmy [ˈbɑmi] evening at our vacation spot on the shores of Lake Erie.balmy
adj [ˈbɑmi]
Balmy [ˈbɑmi] is an adjective that is often used to describe weather that is warm, calm, and pleasant. It can also be used to describe someone or something (such as an idea) that is foolish or irrational.
The original balm, what Latin-speakers referred to as balsamum, was the oleoresin of a species of balsam tree. In Anglo-French, balsamum became basme and baume, spellings which entered Middle English and later became balm. Balm eventually begat the adjective balmy English Aug 20, 2023, 8:06 AM cowpoke
She stood preening [ˈpɹin] herself in front of the mirror.preen
verb [ˈpɹin]
To preen is to make ones's appearance neat and tidy or to behave or speak with obvious pride or self-satisfaction. In ornithology, preen means "to groom with the bill."
Preen hatched in 14th-century Middle English, and early on it displayed various spelling forms, including prenen, prayne, prene, and preyne. The word traces to the Anglo-French puroindre, or proindre, linking pur-, meaning "thoroughly," with uindre, oindre, meaning "to anoin... English Aug 8, 2023, 4:52 AM cowpoke
She couldn’t pinpoint the cause of this overwhelming feeling of malaise [məˈleɪz].malaise
noun [məˈleɪz]
Malaise refers to a slight or general feeling of not being healthy or happy.
Old French ancestor was formed from the combination of mal (“bad”) and aise (“comfort”), has been a part of English since the mid-18th century. English Aug 7, 2023, 4:56 AM cowpoke
Now a professional dancer himself, Raul remembers idolizing Gene Kelly, Gregory Hines, and other debonair [ˌdɛbəˈnɛr] performers as a child.debonair
adj [ˌdɛbəˈnɛr]
describes someone who may, by definition, also be called fashionable, attractive, and confident.
Calling someone debonair is another way of saying they’ve got a certain je ne sais quoi, or to be more specific (and complete the rhyme): savoir faire. Ooh la la! If this all sounds ultra chic to you, you’re not alone. French has a certain cachet, a fanciness and prestige owing in part to its deep etymological, historical, and political connections with English. English Aug 6, 2023, 5:57 AM cowpoke
In the face of intense public scrutiny, the college's president is now trying to disavow [ˌdɪsəˈvaʊ] her previous statements about eliminating tenure.disavow
verb [ˌdɪsəˈvaʊ]
Disavow is a formal word that is often used as a synonym for repudiate meaning “to deny responsibility for.” A closely related second meaning is “to refuse to acknowledge or accept.”
from Latin via Anglo-French, they have distinct roots: vow comes from the Latin verb vovēre, meaning “to vow,” while avow and disavow trace back to the verb advocare, meaning “to summon.” English Jul 28, 2023, 7:39 AM cowpoke
The plaintive [ˈpleɪntɪv] call of the loon, as though it were mourning some bygone age, drifted across the lake.plaintive
adj [ˈpleɪntɪv]
Something (usually a sound) that is described as plaintive is expressive of sorrow or suffering.
Plaintive comes from the Middle English word plaintif, meaning “grieving,” a borrowing from an identical Anglo-French word that itself was formed from the Anglo-French noun plaint, a word meaning “lamentation.”
Plaintif is the source too of the familiar legal term plaintiff, which refers to someone who presents a legal action or complaint to a court. English Jul 27, 2023, 5:09 AM cowpoke
After careful review, the contract was declared null [ˈnəl] and void.null
adj [ˈnəl]
technical term. In law it is commonly used in the phrase "null and void" to describe something that has no legal or binding force. Null also has several zero-related meanings, including "amounting to nothing," "having no value," "having no elements," "having zero as a limit," and "of, being, or relating to zero."
from the Anglo-French word nul, meaning "not any." That word, in turn, traces to the Latin w... English Jul 25, 2023, 4:55 AM cowpoke
It was no surprise that she got accepted to the performing arts school; dancing was always her forte [FOR-tay].forte
noun [FOR-tay]
Forte refers to something that a person does well, or in other words, a person’s strong point.
source is the French adjective fort, meaning “strong.” it quickly came to refer to the strong point of a person, in addition to the strong point of a blade. (The word has its counterpoint in foible, which comes from an obsolete form of the French word faible, “weak,” and refers both to the weakest part of a sword blade and to a person’s weak point.) English Jul 12, 2023, 4:27 AM cowpoke
She has become something of a bon vivant [bahn-vee-VAHNT] since moving to Paris, going out most nights and delighting in the city's many famous restaurants.bon vivant
noun [bahn-vee-VAHNT]
A bon vivant is a sociable person who has cultivated and refined tastes especially with respect to food and drink.
In French, the phrase literally means “good liver.” Fear not if you are among those who are underinformed about the state of their liver. The “liver” here is not the bodily organ, but one who lives; a bon vivant is one who lives well. English Jul 10, 2023, 4:23 AM cowpoke
週に何回ここに来ますかVous venez ici combien de fois par semaine ? French Jun 25, 2023, 9:50 PM gkj64bpy9w
The model sashayed [sæˈʃeɪ] down the runway wearing red from head to toe.sashay
verb [sæˈʃeɪ]
To sashay is to proudly walk in a slow, confident way that is meant to attract attention. Sashay can also mean simply "to walk, glide, or go," or "to proceed or move in a diagonal or sideways manner." In contexts involving dance, sashay means "to make a chassé," which is a dance step in which a slide on one foot is followed closely by a slide on the other foot.
Sashay slid into English as an alteration of the French borrowing chassé, whic... English Jun 24, 2023, 5:20 AM cowpoke
フライドポテト 英語French fry Jun 16, 2023, 5:45 AM Kingdom5
