poltroon: a wretched coward; craven.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 22, 2011 is:

splenetic • \splih-NET-ik\  • adjective
: marked by bad temper, malevolence, or spite

Examples:
I know David was in a bad mood all day, but the splenetic tone of his reply to Brenda’s question was not necessary.

"If he were 10 or 15 years younger (or at least looked like he was), [Charlie] Sheen would be perfect as the splenetic, screed-spouting anti-hero of John Osborne’s 'Look Back in Anger.'" -- From an article by Ben Brantley on the New York Times Arts Beat blog, May 26, 2011

Did you know?
In early Western physiology, a person's physical qualities and mental disposition were believed to be determined by the proportion of four bodily humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. The last of these was believed to be secreted by the spleen, causing feelings of disposition ranging from intense sadness (melancholia) to irascibility. This now-discredited association explains how the use of "splenetic" (deriving from the Late Latin "spleneticus" and the Latin "splen," meaning "spleen") came to mean both "bad-tempered" and "given to melancholy" as well as "of or relating to the spleen." In later years, the "melancholy" sense fell out of use, but the sense pertaining to ill humor or malevolence remains with us today.

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salvo: something to save a person's reputation or soothe a person's feelings.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 21, 2011 is:

strudel • \STROO-dul\  • noun
: a pastry made from a thin sheet of dough rolled up with filling and baked

Examples:
Strudels are usually made with high-gluten flour to increase the malleability of the dough.

"The Supremes belted out a song on the radio, their voices as smooth and flawless as the ribbon of cream Kirsten poured from the pitcher onto her father's strudel, and the whole house smelled cheerfully of pork and spiced apples, laced with a note of butter. -- From Rebecca Coleman’s 2011 novel The Kingdom of Childhood

Did you know?
The word "strudel" first appeared in English in the late 19th century, but the confection the word refers to is likely much older. The strudel is Austrian in origin, and its name comes from the German word "Strudel," meaning "whirlpool" -- which the pastry resembles when cut to reveal its thin sheet of dough rolled around the filling. Strudels can be sweet or savory, but the sweet apple strudel is the most famous.

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mitigate: to lessen in force or intensity, as wrath, grief, harshness, or pain; moderate.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 20, 2011 is:

elucidate • \ih-LOO-suh-dayt\  • verb
1 : to make lucid especially by explanation or analysis 2 : to give a clarifying explanation

Examples:
During her speech, the governor attempted to elucidate exactly what kind of impact the new sports arena would have on the state's economy.

"His stylish criticism, marked by an easy erudition, was invariably smooth and accessible; he compressed and elucidated but never reduced or oversimplified." -- From an article by Benjamin Schwarz in The Atlantic, December 2011

Did you know?
To "elucidate" is to make something clear that was formerly murky or confusing -- and it is perfectly clear how the modern term got that meaning. "Elucidate" traces to the Latin term "lucidus," which means "lucid." "Lucidus" in turn descends from the verb "lucēre," meaning "to shine." So "elucidating" can be thought of as the figurative equivalent of shining a light on something to make it easier to see. "Lucēre" has also produced other shining offspring in English. Among its descendants are "lucid" itself (which can mean "shining," "clear-headed," or "easily understood"), "lucent" (meaning "giving off light" or "easily seen through"), and "translucent" (meaning "partly transparent" or "clear enough for light to pass through").

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knavery: unprincipled, untrustworthy, or dishonest dealing; trickery.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 19, 2011 is:

gargantuan • \gahr-GAN-chuh-wuh\  • adjective
: tremendous in size, volume, or degree : gigantic, colossal

Examples:
The town's wealthiest family lived in a gargantuan mansion at the top of the hill, complete with twelve bedrooms, two swimming pools and a tennis court.

"Contrary to my expectations, I did not have nightmares about gargantuan squid tangling with enormous ichthyosaurs in the shadowy reaches of the sea last night." -- From a blog post by Brian Switek at Wired.com, October 12, 2011

Did you know?
"Gargantua" is the name of a giant king in François Rabelais's 16th-century satiric novel Gargantua. All of the details of Gargantua's life befit a giant. He rides a colossal mare whose tail switches so violently that it fells the entire forest of Orleans. He has an enormous appetite -- in one memorable incident, he inadvertently swallows five pilgrims while eating a salad. The scale of everything connected with Gargantua gave rise to the adjective "gargantuan," which since Shakespeare's time has been used of anything of tremendous size or volume.

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omnibus: a volume of reprinted works of a single author or of works related in interest or theme.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 18, 2011 is:

vulcanize • \VUL-kuh-nyze\  • verb
: to subject to or to undergo the process of treating crude or synthetic rubber or similar plastic material chemically to give it useful properties (as elasticity, strength, and stability)

Examples:
Rubber that has been vulcanized is not just for tires -- a wide range of articles, from hoses and hockey pucks to rubber bands and rain boots, are made with it.

"The sulfur in the juice of morning glories is used to vulcanize rubber, but it was used long before Goodyear as a hallucinogenic, a laxative and possibly to make rubber bouncing balls." -- From an article by Judy Terry at press-citizen.com (Iowa City Press-Citizen), October 19, 2011

Did you know?
"Vulcanize" sounds like something Spock from Star Trek might do, but the explanation behind this word has more to do with ancient mythology than it does with science fiction. Vulcanization involves heating rubber in combination with sulfur. The Roman god Vulcan (whose Greek counterpart is Hephaestus) was the god of fire and of skills that used fire, such as metalworking. So when Charles Goodyear discovered that high heat would result in stronger rubber, he called the process "vulcanization" after the god of fire. Goodyear stumbled upon the idea in 1839 and acquired a patent for it in 1844, but the words "vulcanize" and "vulcanization" didn't appear in print until 1845 and 1846 respectively.

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bibliophage: an ardent reader; a bookworm.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 17, 2011 is:

haberdasher • \HAB-er-dash-er\  • noun
1 British : a dealer in notions 2 : a dealer in men's clothing and accessories

Examples:
Mr. Watson planned to visit the haberdasher during the week to find some new shirts for his wardrobe.

"Under his ownership, the store's reputation spread. Clients flew into Portland and stayed at the Heathman Hotel to await their appointments with the courteous haberdasher." -- From an obituary by Anne Saker in The Oregonian, September 20, 2011

Did you know?
At various times throughout its history, the term "haberdasher" has referred to a dealer of hats or caps, a seller of notions (sewing supplies such as needles and thimbles), and apparently (perhaps somewhat coyly) as a person who sells liquor. Nowadays, with hats not being as fashionable as they once were, the word mostly is applied generally as a clothing outfitter for men, with "haberdashery" referring to the establishment or the goods sold there. "Haberdasher" derives via Middle English from "hapertas," an Anglo-French word for a kind of cloth, as does the obsolete noun "haberdash," which once meant petty merchandise or small wares.

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opuscule: a small or minor work.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 16, 2011 is:

mountebank • \MOUN-tih-bank\  • noun
1 : a person who sells quack medicines from a platform 2 : a boastful unscrupulous pretender : charlatan

Examples:
In his newspaper column, Gavin criticized the talk-radio host as "a mountebank whose 'expert' opinions and advice are complete hooey."

"Bring your five-minute tales related to all things fraudulent and pseudo. Flimflammers, mountebanks, poseurs and snake oil salesmen especially welcome." -- From a literary events listing by Gina Webb in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 25, 2011

Did you know?
"Mountebank" derives from the Italian "montimbanco," which was formed by combining the verb "montare" ("to mount"), the preposition "in" (converted to "im," meaning "in" or "on"), and the noun "banco" ("bench"). Put these components together and you can deduce the literal origins of "mountebank" as someone mounted on a bench -- the "bench" being the platform on which charlatans from the 16th and 17th centuries would stand to sell their phony medicines. Mountebanks often included various forms of light entertainment on stage in order to attract customers. Later, extended uses of "mountebank" referred to someone who falsely claims to have knowledge about a particular subject or a person who simply pretends to be something he or she is not in order to gain attention.

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apocrypha: various religious writings of uncertain origin regarded by some as inspired, but rejected by most authorities.

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