alate: having wings; winged.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 17, 2012 is:

graupel • \GROU-pul ("OU" is as in "cloud")\  • noun
: granular snow

Examples:
As we sat inside, enjoying the cozy warmth of the fire, the storm deposited an inch of graupel on the deck.

"In counties adjacent to the Illinois-Wisconsin border, graupel (snow enveloped by super-cooled water droplets) or small hail was reported in Kenosha, Racine, Lake Geneva, Wauconda, and Huntley." -- From a weather report by Tom Skilling in the Chicago Tribune, October 28, 2011

Did you know?
The word "graupel" is Germanic in origin; it is the diminutive of "Graupe," meaning "pearl barley." According to etymologists, there does seem to be a grain of truth in the assumption that the word grew from the Slavic word "krupa," which has the same meaning. "Graupel" was first seen in an 1889 weather report and has been whirling around in the meteorology field ever since to describe "pellets of snow" or "soft hail" (the latter phrase is an actual synonym of "graupel").

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perspicacious: having keen mental perception and understanding; discerning.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 16, 2012 is:

ostensible • \ah-STEN-suh-bul\  • adjective
1 : intended for display : open to view 2 : being such in appearance : plausible rather than demonstrably true or real

Examples:
The ostensible reason for the meeting was to review the budget, but the whole thing was really just a ruse to get him to the surprise party.

"The ostensible purpose of federal guarantees for student loans was to make college more affordable. In fact they did the opposite, by fueling the massive tuition hikes." -- From an editorial by Jack Kelly in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 6, 2011

Did you know?
Like its synonyms "apparent" and "seeming," "ostensible" implies a discrepancy between what appears to be and what actually is. "Apparent" suggests appearance to unaided senses that may not be borne out by more rigorous examination ("the apparent cause of the accident"). "Seeming" implies a character in the thing being observed that gives it the appearance of something else ("the seeming simplicity of the story"). "Ostensible," which descends from the Latin word "ostendere" ("to show"), suggests a discrepancy between a declared or implied aim or reason and the true one.

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outrance: the utmost extremity.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 15, 2012 is:

xylography • \zye-LAH-gruh-fee\  • noun
: the art of making engravings on wood especially for printing

Examples:
Francine uses a rubber-stamping technique in her art that is reminiscent of Chinese xylography.

"Also known as wood block printing, xylography proved to be cheaper and more efficient for printing Chinese, with its thousands of characters, so movable type did not supplant it there until modern times." -- From Christopher I. Beckwith's 2011 book Empires of the Silk Road

Did you know?
"Xylography" didn't appear in print in English until 1816, but it is linked to printing practices that are much older. In fact, the oldest known printed works (from Japan and China in the 8th and 9th centuries) were made by xylography, a printing technique that involves carving text in relief upon a wooden block, which is then inked and applied to paper. This method of wood-block printing appeared in Europe in the 14th century, and eventually inspired Johannes Gutenberg to create individual and reusable pieces of type out of metal. These days, "xylography" can also describe the technique of engraving wood for purely artistic purposes. English speakers picked up the word from French, where it was formed as a combination of "xyl-," meaning "wood," and "-graphie," which denotes writing in a specified manner.

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desinence: a termination or ending, as the final line of a verse.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 14, 2012 is:

crucible • \KROO-suh-bul\  • noun
1 : a vessel in which metals or other substances are heated to a very high temperature or melted 2 : a severe test 3 : a place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence change or development

Examples:
Living in the crucible that was Paris in the spring of 1968, Remi got to witness firsthand the angry confrontations between workers, students, and government.

"'Desire' -- it's the perfect name for Pedro Almodóvar's production company, the crucible for all his films including Law of Desire, the movie that helped make a star out of a young Spanish actor named Antonio Banderas." -- From a film review by Lawrence Osborne in Newsweek, October 3, 2011

Did you know?
"Crucible" looks like it should be closely related to the Latin combining form "cruc-" ("cross"), but it isn't. It was forged from the Medieval Latin "crucibulum," a noun for an earthen pot used to melt metals, and in English it first referred to a vessel of a very heat-resistant material (such as porcelain) used for melting a substance that requires a high degree of heat. But the resemblance between "cruc-" and "crucible" probably encouraged people to start using "crucible" to mean "a severe trial." That sense is synonymous with one meaning of "cross," a word that is related to "cruc-." The newest sense of "crucible" ("a situation in which great changes take place" -- as in "forged in the crucible of war") recalls the fire and heat that would be encountered in the original heat-resistant pot.

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viscid: having a glutinous consistency; sticky; adhesive.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 13, 2012 is:

thole • \THOHL\  • verb
: endure

Examples:
"There was now temptation to resist, as well as pain to thole." -- From Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel Kidnapped

"She moved closer to him and he noticed her faint perfume. Her cheeks were rosy red, and a tiny drip hung from the end of her nose. She was cold, but she was tholing it so as not to spoil his fun." -- From Patrick Taylor's 2010 novel An Irish Country Christmas

Did you know?
"Thole" is one of the English language's oldest words -- it existed in Middle English in its current form and in Old English with the form "tholian" -- but in these modern times it tholes only in the corners of England's northern dialects. It has the same origin as "tolerate": both come from the Greek word "tlēnai," meaning "to bear." Unrelated to this "thole" is the (also very old) noun "thole," which can be used as a synonym of "peg" or "pin" or can refer to either of a pair of pins set in the gunwale of a boat to hold an oar in place. This "thole" comes from Greek "tylos," meaning "knob" or "callus."

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bonny: pleasing to the eye.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 12, 2012 is:

valorous • \VAL-uh-russ\  • adjective
1 : possessing or acting with bravery or boldness : courageous 2 : marked by, exhibiting, or carried out with courage or determination : heroic

Examples:
Audie Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1945 for valorous acts that helped to save his company in the face of a fierce German assault.

"So today I am putting in the mail a donation to my local fire company. I hope many others will do the same. Honor the dead by honoring the living who continue the valorous work of first responders. Support them in their work, the work of rushing to the aid of you and me." -- From a letter to the editor by Evangeline Jones in the Poughkeepsie Journal (New York), September 11, 2011

Did you know?
If you are boldly seeking synonyms for "valorous," consider "courageous," "intrepid," "dauntless," "bold," or just plain "brave" -- all of which mean "having or showing no fear when faced with danger or difficulty." "Brave" is the most straightforward of these, implying lack of fear in alarming or difficult circumstances. "Courageous" carries a sense of stout-hearted resolution in the face of danger, while "intrepid" suggests downright daring in confronting peril. "Dauntless" suggests determination and resolution despite danger. "Bold" typically indicates a forward or defiant tendency to thrust oneself into dangerous situations. "Valorous," which comes from Middle English "valour," meaning "worth, worthiness, or bravery," suggests illustrious bravery and sometimes has an archaic or romantic ring.

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expostulate: to reason earnestly with someone against something that person intends to do or has done.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 11, 2012 is:

kudos • \KOO-dahss\  • noun
1 : fame and renown resulting from an act or achievement : prestige 2 : praise given for achievement

Examples:
"I'd like to be a widow. Then I'd have the freedom of the unmarried, with the kudos of the married. I could eat my cake and have it, too. Oh, to be a widow!" -- From Lucy Maud Montgomery’s short story "The End of a Quarrel," in Chronicles of Avonlea (1912)

"Making the playoffs is an achievement that deserves kudos, but getting this far isn't enough -- the real goal is to win championships, and the best way to do that is to continually look to upgrade your team." -- From an article by KC Joyner on ESPN.com, December 6, 2011

Did you know?
Deriving from Greek, "kudos" entered English as slang popular at British universities in the 19th century. In its earliest use, the word referred to the prestige or renown that one gained by having accomplished something noteworthy. The sense meaning "praise given for achievement" came about in the 1920s. As this later sense became the predominant one, some English speakers, unaware of the word's Greek origin, began to treat it as a plural count noun, inevitably coming up with the back-formation "kudo" to refer to a single instance of praise. For the same reason, when "kudos" is used as a subject you may see it with either a singular or plural verb.

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paregmenon: the juxtaposition of words that have a common derivation, as in “sense and sensibility.”

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