Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 08, 2011 is:

overwhelm • \oh-ver-WELM\  • verb
1 : upset, overthrow 2 a : to cover over completely : submerge b : to overcome by superior force or numbers c : to overpower in thought or feeling

Examples:
The flurry of term papers and exams during the final weeks of the semester can overwhelm some students.

"So-called 'denial of service' attacks involve bombarding websites with so much bogus traffic that their servers are overwhelmed." -- From an article in the Associated Press State & Local Wire, October 10, 2011

Did you know?
You could say that the introduction of "overwhelm" to the English language was a bit redundant. The word, which originally meant "to overturn or upset," was formed in Middle English by combining the prefix "over-" with the verb "whelmen," which also meant "to overturn." "Whelmen" has survived in English as "whelm," a verb which is largely synonymous with "overwhelm." Over the last 600 years, however, "overwhelm" has won over English speakers who have come to largely prefer it to "whelm," despite the latter's brevity. Perhaps the emphatic redundancy of "overwhelm" makes it seem like the more fitting word for describing the experience of being overcome by powerful forces or feelings.

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canny: careful; cautious; prudent.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 07, 2011 is:

archipelago • \ahr-kuh-PEL-uh-goh\  • noun
1 : an expanse of water with many scattered islands 2 : a group of islands 3 : something resembling an archipelago; especially : a group or scattering of similar things

Examples:
"Both attacks took place in the Lamu archipelago, a string of white-sand islands that are the first significant settlement south of the Somali border, and one of Kenya’s major tourist draws." -- From an article by Mike Pflanz in the Christian Science Monitor, October 3, 2011

"The only hint of the storm the night before was an archipelago of puddles and ponds sparkling in the bright morning sunlight." -- From Les Alldredge's 2011 book Do No Evil

Did you know?
The Greeks called it the "Aegean Pelagos" and the Italians referred to it as "Arcipelago" (principal sea), but English speakers now call it the Aegean Sea. Numerous islands dot its expanse, and 17th-century English speakers adopted a modified form of its Italian name for any sea with a similar scattering of islands. By the 19th century "archipelago" had come to refer to the groups of islands themselves, and now it is often used figuratively, as in, for example, "an archipelago of high rises."

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junket: a trip, usually by an official or legislative committee, paid out of public funds and ostensibly to obtain information.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 06, 2011 is:

ruminate • \ROO-muh-nayt\  • verb
1 : to engage in contemplation : meditate 2 : to chew again what has been chewed slightly and swallowed : chew the cud

Examples:
After meeting with her counselor, Meg passed the afternoon ruminating on the question of what to do with her life.

"We could ruminate all day about the negatives of economic downturns. But that wouldn't make us any money. Instead, let's focus on the ways that hard times actually help the economy." -- From an article by Buck Hartzell on DailyFinance.com, September 22, 2011

Did you know?
When you ruminate you chew something over, either literally or figuratively. Literal rumination may seem a little gross to humans, but to cows, chewing your cud (that's partially digested food brought up from the stomach for another chew) is just a natural part of life. Figurative ruminating is much more palatable to humans; that kind of deep, meditative thought is often deemed quite a worthy activity. The verb "ruminate" has described metaphorical chewing over since the early 1500s and actual chewing since later that same century. Our English word derives from and shares the meanings of the Latin "ruminari," which in turn derives from "rumen," the Latin name for the first stomach compartment of ruminant animals (that is, creatures like cows that chew their cud).

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quean: an overly forward, impudent woman; shrew; hussy.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 05, 2011 is:

visceral • \VIS-uh-rul\  • adjective
1 : felt in or as if in the internal organs of the body 2 : not intellectual : instinctive 3 : dealing with crude or elemental emotions 4 : of, relating to, or located on or among the internal organs of the body

Examples:
The steady, pounding bass lines and infectious harmonies give the music a real visceral punch.

"My mom is the only one who still writes me letters. And there's something visceral about opening a letter -- I see her on the page. I see her in her handwriting." -- Steve Carell, quoted in The Boston Globe Magazine, July 24, 2011

Did you know?
The "viscera" are the internal organs of the body -- especially those located in the large cavity of the trunk (e.g., the heart, liver, and intestines). The word "viscera" comes from Latin, in which it has essentially the same meaning. Something "visceral" has to do with the viscera. In a more figurative sense, something "visceral" is felt "deep down." Even in the early years of its use, "visceral" often referred to things emotional rather than physiological. For example, in 1640 an English bishop named Edward Reynolds wrote, "Love is of all other the inmost and most visceral affection." This figurative use is the most common use of "visceral," but the word continues to be used in medical contexts as well.

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prehensible: able to be seized or grasped.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 04, 2011 is:

discriminate • \diss-KRIM-uh-nayt\  • verb
1 a : to see the special features of b : to perceive a difference in : differentiate 2 : to distinguish by discerning or exposing differences; especially : to distinguish from another like object 3 : to make a difference in treatment or favor on a basis other than individual merit

Examples:
One of the important skills for judging a dog show is the ability to discriminate between dozens of breeds.

"Landlords are forbidden to discriminate against the unemployed." -- From a column by Martin Eichner in the Los Angeles Times, September 18, 2011

Did you know?
Although many methods or motives for discriminating are unfair and undesirable (or even illegal), the verb itself has a neutral history. English speakers borrowed it from the past participle of the Latin verb "discriminare," itself from the verb "discernere," meaning "to distinguish between." "Discernere," in turn, was formed by combining the prefix "dis-" and "cernere" ("to sift"). Other descendants of "discernere" include "discern" and "discernible" (as you no doubt guessed), "discreet," and "indiscretion." In addition, the root "cernere" gives us "concern," "certain," "decree," and even "secret."

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obscurantism: opposition to the increase and spread of knowledge.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 03, 2011 is:

patina • \puh-TEE-nuh\  • noun
1 a : a usually green film formed on copper and bronze by exposure to moist air and often valued aesthetically for its color b : a surface appearance of something grown beautiful especially with age or use 2 : an appearance or aura that is derived from association, habit, or established character 3 : a superficial covering or exterior

Examples:
Although the winery is brand-new, it has been constructed and decorated to give it a patina of old-world quaintness.

"Harry said the copper would be a good covering for the entry room ceiling once a patina had developed." -- From Annie Proulx’s Bird Cloud: A Memoir, 2011

Did you know?
Italians began using "patina" in the 17th century to refer to the green film that is produced on the surface of copper. They borrowed the word from Latin, where it means "a shallow dish." (Presumably, the Italian meaning developed from the observation of such film forming on copper dishes.) By the mid-18th century, English speakers were also calling the green film "patina." And by the early 20th century, "patina" was being used in English for the gloss of polished metals, like silver, as well as wooden furniture -- a meaning that led to its literary use for a surrounding aura, as demonstrated in this quote from Stella Gibbons' Cold Comfort Farm (1932): "The very atmosphere seemed covered with a rich patina of love."

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metempirical: beyond or outside the field of experience.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 02, 2011 is:

onomatopoeia • \ah-nuh-mah-tuh-PEE-uh\  • noun
1 : the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it (as buzz, hiss) 2 : the use of words whose sound suggests the sense

Examples:
"Bam!" "Pow!" "Crash!" These and other words created by onomatopoeia flashed on the screen throughout the show's fight scenes.

"The rhymes in the text are simple but not obvious. The rhythm is constant, not languid, as it is punctuated by exclamations, dialogue and onomatopoeia." -- From a book review by Hadley Newton in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas), September 1, 2011

Did you know?
"Onomatopoeia" came into English via Late Latin and ultimately traces back to Greek "onoma," meaning "name," and "poiein," meaning "to make." ("Onoma" can be found in such terms as "onomastics," which refers to the study of proper names and their origins, while "poiein" gave us such words as "poem" and "poet.") English speakers have only used the word "onomatopoeia" since the mid-1500s, but people have been creating words from the sounds heard around them for much longer. In fact, the presence of so many imitative words in language spawned the linguistic Bowwow Theory, which postulates that language originated in imitation of natural sounds.

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aioli: a sauce made of oil and eggs, usually flavored with garlic, from the Provence region of France.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 01, 2011 is:

cerulean • \suh-ROO-lee-un\  • adjective
: resembling the blue of the sky

Examples:
The painting depicted a series of tall, verdant trees surrounding a cerulean lake.

"I try to summon the Russian fairy tale about the prince in exile and his beautiful swan-princess …. I think of cerulean-blue waves, a swirling red skirt and a silver-white moon." -- From Mira Bartok's 2011 memoir The Memory Palace

Did you know?
"Cerulean" comes from the Latin word "caeruleus," which means "dark blue" and is most likely from "caelum," the Latin word for "sky." An artist rendering a sky of blue in oils or watercolors might choose a tube of cerulean blue pigment. Birdwatchers in the eastern U.S. might look skyward and see a cerulean warbler (Dendroica cerulea). "Cerulean" is not the only color name that’s closely associated with the sky. "Azure" (which ultimately comes from a Persian word for lapis lazuli, a rich blue stone) describes the color of a cloudless sky and can even be a noun meaning "the unclouded sky."

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