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

wallaroo • \wah-luh-ROO\  • noun
1 : a large reddish-gray kangaroo (Macropus robustus) -- called also euro 2 : either of two kangaroos (Macropus antelopinus and M. bernardus) related to the wallaroo

Examples:
Wallaroos are among the approximately 200 species of marsupials found in Australia, New Guinea, and neighboring islands.

"The agency’s list contained several reports from Devon and Cornwall over the past five years, ranging from big cats to wild boar and even a wallaroo -- a kind of kangaroo." -- From an article in This Is Plymouth, October 8, 2011

Did you know?
Wallaroos are indeed a kind of kangaroo. That term in its broadest usage refers to any member of the family Macropodidae -- which comprises more than 50 species. More specifically, though, "kangaroo" refers to the eastern gray kangaroo, the western gray kangaroo, the red kangaroo, and to the three animals known also as "wallaroos." Like the animals to which they refer, the words "wallaroo" and "kangaroo" are native to Australia. "Wallaroo" is from Dharuk, an Australian aboriginal language of the Port Jackson area; "kangaroo" is from Guugu Yimidhirr, an Australian aboriginal language of northern Queensland. Also from Dharuk is the word "wallaby," which refers to small or medium-sized kangaroos, especially those of the genus Macropus.

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

diligent • \DIL-uh-junt\  • adjective
: characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort : painstaking

Examples:
After many hours of diligent research, the students were finally ready to compile their results.

"The mature members of the workforce are hard-working, diligent, responsible people." -- From an article by Casey Dowd at foxbusiness.com, November 10, 2011

Did you know?
You're more likely to be diligent about something if you love doing it. The etymology of "diligent" reflects the fact that affection can lead to energetic effort. The word, which entered English in the 14th century by way of Anglo-French, descends from the Latin verb "diligere," meaning "to value or esteem highly" or "to love." Of course, you don’t need to care for the task at hand in order to be diligent, but it certainly does help!

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

emblazon • \im-BLAY-zun\  • verb
1 a : to inscribe or adorn with or as if with heraldic bearings or devices b : to inscribe (as logos or lettering) on a surface 2 : celebrate, extol

Examples:
Renaming the high school gymnasium after the beloved late basketball coach would emblazon her memory for years to come.

"A pre-game spotlight beamed on the blue NCAA women's basketball Final Four banner at the Purcell Pavilion, with the year 2011 emblazoned in gold." - From an article by Curt Rallo in the South Bend Tribune (Indiana), November 2, 2011

Did you know?
English speakers have been using the heraldic sense of "emblazon" since the late 16th century, and before that there was the verb "blazon" ("to describe heraldically") and the noun "blazon" ("a heraldic coat of arms"), which descend from Anglo-French "blason." "Emblazon" still refers to adorning something with an emblem of heraldry, but it is now more often used for adorning or publicizing something in any conspicuous way, whether with eye-catching decoration or colorful words of praise.

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

salient • \SAIL-yunt\  • adjective
1 : jutting forward beyond a line 2 : standing out conspicuously : prominent; especially : of notable significance

Examples:
The speech was filled with so much twisted rhetoric that it was hard to identify any salient points.

"My point is that it might be a mistake to suppose that the director of '10,000 B.C.' -- to mention only the most salient example -- should be taken as a reliable guide to history." -- From a review by A.O.Scott in The New York Times, October 28, 2011

Did you know?
Salient" first popped up in English in the mid-17th century, and in its earliest English uses meant "moving by leaps or springs" (as in "a salient cheetah") or "spouting forth" (as in "a salient fountain"). Those senses aren't too much of a jump from the word's parent, the Latin verb “salire,” which means "to leap." “Salire” has leaped into many English words; it's also an ancestor of "somersault" and "sally," as well as "Salientia," the name for an order of amphibians that includes frogs, toads, and other notable jumpers. Today, "salient" is usually used to describe things that are physically prominent (such as a salient nose) or that stand out figuratively (such as the salient features of a painting).

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

crux • \KRUKS\  • noun
1 : a puzzling or difficult problem 2 : an essential point requiring resolution or resolving an outcome 3 : a main or central feature (as of an argument)

Examples:
The crux of the city's problem with traffic congestion is that many people find the trains to be unpredictable and don’t trust them to run on time.

"The crux of the problem is that as a person loses weight, especially in more aggressive dieting, the body changes the hormones it's producing, adjusting for the loss in fat reserves, and promoting a stronger urge to eat more and replace the reserves." -- From an article by Rupert Shepherd in Medical News Today, October 26, 2011

Did you know?
In Latin, "crux" referred literally to an instrument of torture, often a cross or stake, and figuratively to the torture and misery inflicted by means of such an instrument. "Crux" eventually developed the sense of "a puzzling or difficult problem"; that was the first meaning that was used when the word entered English in the early 18th century. Later, in the late 19th century, "crux" began to be used more specifically to refer to an essential point of a legal case that required resolution before the case as a whole could be resolved. Today, the verdict on "crux" is that it can be used to refer to any important part of a problem or argument, inside or outside of the courtroom.

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

nightmare • \NYTE-mair\  • noun
1 : an evil spirit formerly thought to oppress people during sleep 2 : a frightening dream that usually awakens the sleeper 3 : something (as an experience, situation, or object) having the monstrous character of a nightmare or producing a feeling of anxiety or terror

Examples:
Since starting the new medication, John routinely experiences vivid dreams when he sleeps and even suffers from frequent nightmares.

"When the Detroit Tigers opened Comerica Park for the 2000 season, the stadium immediately developed a reputation as a right-handed hitter's nightmare, and the expansive playing surface helped earn it the nickname Comerica State Park." -- From an article by Andrew Keh in The New York Times, November 2, 2011

Did you know?
Looking at "nightmare," you might guess that it is a compound formed from "night" and "mare." If so, your guess is correct. But while the "night" in "nightmare" makes sense, the "mare" part is less obvious. Most English speakers know "mare" as a word for a female horse or similar equine animal, but the "mare" of "nightmare" is a different word, an obsolete one referring to an evil spirit that was once thought to produce feelings of suffocation in people while they slept. By the 14th century the mare was also known as a "nightmare," and by the late 16th century "nightmare" was also being applied to the feelings of distress caused by the spirit, and then to frightening or unpleasant dreams.

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

stratagem • \STRAT-uh-jum\  • noun
1 a : an artifice or trick in war for deceiving and outwitting the enemy b : a cleverly contrived trick or scheme for gaining an end 2 : skill in ruses or trickery

Examples:
As a stratagem to get the kids to do their chores, Melissa persuaded them to have a race to see which child could finish first.

"With runners at the corners, Bochy unwrapped one of his favorite stratagems. He had Fontenot take off for second base on a pitch to Sandoval, then Torres came home on the designed delayed steal to give the Giants a 4-1 lead." -- From an article by Andrew Baggarly in the Monterey County Herald, July 16, 2011

Did you know?
A "stratagem" is any clever scheme -- sometimes one that's part of an overall "strategy" (i.e., a carefully worked out plan of action). Clearly, we no longer limit ourselves to the original military sense of "stratagem" as 15th-century users of the term did. The military meaning can be traced back to the word's Greek ancestor "strategema," which is itself based on "strategein," meaning "to act as a general." "Strategein" in turn comes from "strategos" ("general"), which comes from "stratos" ("army") and "agein" ("to lead"). "Strategos" is an ancestor of "strategy" as well.

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

genuflect • \JEN-yuh-flekt\  • verb
1 a : to bend the knee b : to touch the knee to the floor or ground especially in worship 2 : to be servilely obedient or respectful

Examples:
As part of the wedding ceremony, the couple genuflected before the altar.

"You imagine how frustrating it is for those watching and waiting to genuflect at the altar of the game's best pitcher -- but their primary glimpse of him for the second straight game is sitting dejectedly in the dugout…." -- From an article by Drew Sharp in the Detroit Free Press (Michigan), October 9, 2011

Did you know?
"Genuflect" is derived from Late Latin "genuflectere," formed from the noun "genu" ("knee") and the verb "flectere" ("to bend"). "Flectere" is an ancestor of a number of common verbs in English, such as "reflect" ("to throw back light or sound") and "deflect" ("to turn aside"). By comparison "genu" sees little use in English, but it did give us "geniculate," a word often used in scientific contexts to mean "bent abruptly at an angle like a bent knee." Despite the resemblance, words such as "genius" and "genuine" are not related to "genuflect"; instead, they are of a family that includes the Latin verb "gignere," meaning "to beget."