Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 07, 2012 is:

tome • \TOHM\  • noun
1 : a volume forming part of a larger work 2 : book; especially : a large or scholarly book

Examples:
It took me more than a month to finish reading that 800-page tome on European history.

"Priced at $1,000, the limited-edition tome brings together Norman Mailer's 1973 biography of Monroe with Bert Stern's now-legendary photos." -- From a review by Nicki Gostin on the Huffington Post, December 7, 2011

Did you know?
"Tome" comes from Latin "tomus," which comes from Greek "tomos," meaning "section" or "roll of papyrus." "Tomos" comes from the Greek verb "temnein," which means "to cut." In ancient times, some of the longest scrolls of papyrus occasionally were divided into sections. When it was first used in English in the 16th century, "tome" was a book that was a part of a multi-volume work. Now a tome is most often simply a large and often ponderous book.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 06, 2012 is:

calaboose • \KAL-uh-booss\  • noun
: jail; especially : a local jail

Examples:
The chief entertainment at our family gatherings is always the stories my uncles tell of their wild youthful antics -- some of which landed them in the calaboose for a night.

"Dallas broke the law, according to the lawsuit, because it lied in violation of the False Claims Act. The False Claims Act can be enforced criminally (off to the calaboose) or civilly (write a big check)." -- From an article by Jim Schutze in the Dallas Observer, November 24, 2011

Did you know?
"Calaboose" had been part of the English language for almost a century when John S. Farmer included the term in his 1889 book Americanisms -- Old & New, defining it as "the common gaol or prison." Farmer also made mention of a verb "calaboose," meaning "to imprison," but that term was apparently lost in the years between then and now. "Calaboose" is Spanish in origin; it's from the Spanish word "calabozo," meaning "dungeon."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 05, 2012 is:

epithet • \EP-uh-thet\  • noun
1 : a characterizing word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing 2 : a disparaging or abusive word or phrase 3 : the part of a taxonomic name identifying a subordinate unit within a genus

Examples:
The online message board’s Terms of Service dictate that abusive language of any kind, including derogatory epithets, will result in the termination of the offending party’s account.

"The term 'RINO' (Republican In Name Only) has become an epithet of ideological enforcement…." -- From an op-ed piece by Jonah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times, December 27, 2011

Did you know?
Nowadays, "epithet" is usually used negatively, with the meaning "a derogatory word or phrase," but it wasn't always that way. "Epithet" comes to us via Latin from the Greek noun "epitheton" and ultimately derives from "epitithenai," meaning "to put on" or "to add." In its oldest sense, an "epithet" is simply a descriptive word or phrase, especially one joined by fixed association to the name of someone or something (as in "Peter the Great" or the stock Homeric phrases "gray-eyed Athena" and "wine-dark sea"). Alternatively, epithets may be used in place of a name (as in "the Peacemaker" or "the Eternal"). These neutral meanings of "epithet" are still in use, but today the word is more often used in its negative "term of disparagement" sense.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 03, 2012 is:

parochial • \puh-ROH-kee-ul\  • adjective
1 : of or relating to a church parish 2 : limited in range or scope (as to a narrow area or region) : provincial, narrow

Examples:
The book is marred by the parochial viewpoint of its author, who fails to take into account the interplay between local and global economies.

"Once a largely parochial issue mainly of interest to Nebraskans, the pipeline's national profile has risen steadily to the point where it became the linchpin in a much broader, high-stakes deal affecting millions of families from coast to coast." -- From an article by Joseph Morton in the Omaha World-Herald, December 18, 2011

Did you know?
In the Greek New Testament, the word "paroikia" means "temporary residence." (It's from the Greek word for "stranger" -- "paroikos.") Early Christians used this designation for their colonies because they considered heaven their real home. But temporary or not, these Christian colonies became more organized as time went on. Thus, in Late Latin, "parochia" became the designation for a group of Christians in a given area under the leadership of one pastor -- what we came to call a "parish" in the 14th century. Both "parish" and its related adjective "parochial" were borrowed at that time directly from Middle French terms that had been derived from the Late Latin. We didn't begin to use "parochial" in its "narrow" sense until the mid-19th century.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 02, 2012 is:

rapporteur • \ra-por-TER\  • noun
: a person who gives reports (as at a meeting of a learned society)

Examples:
He was selected to be the UN's rapporteur on nuclear energy.

"In March, the U.N. Human Rights Council designated a special rapporteur, Ahmed Shaheed, to investigate and report on Iran's human rights violations, the first country-specific human rights rapporteur since the council's creation." -- From an article by Leonard A. Leo and Don Argue in the Sacramento Bee, October 31, 2011

Did you know?
"Rapporteur" was adopted into English in the early 16th century and is a descendant of the Middle French verb "rapporter," meaning "to bring back, report, or refer." Other descendants of "rapporter" in English include "rapportage" (a rare synonym of "reportage," in the sense of "writing intended to give an account of observed or documented events") and "rapport" ("a harmonious relationship," as in "The young teacher had a good rapport with the students"). The words "report," "reporter," "reportage," etc., are also distant relatives of "rapporteur"; all can ultimately be traced back to the Latin prefix "re-," meaning "back, again, or against," and the Latin word "portare," meaning "to carry."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 01, 2012 is:

incommunicado • \in-kuh-myoo-nuh-KAH-doh\  • adverb or adjective
: without means of communication : in a situation or state not allowing communication

Examples:
Human rights groups continue to petition the government to allow them access to prisoners who are being held incommunicado.

"Spirit has been incommunicado for more than a year despite daily calls by NASA. The cause of Spirit's silence may never be known, but it's likely the bitter Martian winter damaged its electronics, preventing the six-wheel rover from waking up." -- From an Associated Press article by Alicia Chang, May 25, 2011

Did you know?
"Incommunicado" ultimately comes from Latin but made its way into English via Spanish. We borrowed the word (with a slightly modified spelling) from the past participle of the Spanish verb "incomunicar," meaning "to deprive of communication." The Spanish word, in turn, derives from the Latin prefix "in-" and the verb "communicare," meaning "to communicate."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 31, 2011 is:

amenable • \uh-MEE-nuh-bul\  • adjective
1 : liable to be brought to account : answerable 2 a : capable of submission (as to judgment or test) : suited b : readily brought to yield, submit, or cooperate c : inclined or favorably disposed in mind : willing

Examples:
Stacy hinted to her husband that she was amenable to the idea of staying home on New Year’s Eve instead of going out.

"[Lance] Lowery said he wasn't disappointed by the offerings, and that fellow shoppers were surprisingly civil. 'Parking wasn't bad at all. People have been amenable. The sales staff is great. I thought it was going to be crazy, but everyone's been very patient.'" -- From an article by Jill Cowan and Courtenay Edelhart in The Bakersfield Californian, November 25, 2011

Did you know?
"Amenable" is a legacy of Anglo-French and derives ultimately from Latin "minari," meaning "to threaten." Since 1596, English speakers have been using it in courtrooms and writings of law with the meaning "answerable," as in "citizens amenable to the law." It later developed the meanings "suited" ("a simple function . . . which is perfectly amenable to pencil-and-paper arithmetic" -- Nature, April 1973) and "responsive" (as in "mental illnesses that are amenable to drug therapy"). It also came to be used of people with a general disposition to be agreeable or complaisant -- like Mr. Dick in David Copperfield, who was "the most friendly and amenable creature in existence." Nowadays, "amenable" is often used to describe someone who is favorably disposed to a particular named something.