Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 12, 2020 is:

yaw • \YAW\  • verb

1 a of a ship : to deviate erratically from a course (as when struck by a heavy sea); especially : to move from side to side

b of an airplane, spacecraft, or projectile : to turn by angular motion about the vertical axis

2 : to change from one to another repeatedly : alternate

Examples:

"A crane had been brought in to lift the submersible from the truck onto the raft.… Even with its heavy load the raft pitched and yawed as it was towed along." — Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos, Blue Gold, 2000

"All told, even as the U.S. GDP has grown, our air and water have become cleaner. And while policies yawed between Democratic and Republican administrations, the long-term trend has been toward stronger and better controls that have not, despite the dire warnings from the pro-business sector, crippled the economy." — editorial, The Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2020

Did you know?

In the heyday of large sailing ships, numerous nautical words appeared on the horizon. Yaw is one such word. Its origin isn't exactly known, but it began turning up in print in the 16th century, first as a noun (meaning "movement off course" or "side to side movement") and then as a verb. For centuries, it remained a sailing word—often alongside pitch ("to have the front end rise and fall")—with occasional extended use as a synonym of the verb alternate. When the era of airplane flight dawned, much of the vocabulary of sailing found new life in aeronautics, and "yawing" was no longer confined to the sea. Nowadays, yaw, pitch, and roll are just as likely to be used by pilots and rocket scientists to describe the motion of their crafts.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 11, 2020 is:

malaise • \muh-LAYZ\  • noun

1 : an indefinite feeling of debility or lack of health often indicative of or accompanying the onset of an illness

2 : a vague sense of mental or moral ill-being

Examples:

"Nothing can make you forget the malaise of social distancing like the pain of being a teenager." — Ariel Shapiro, Forbes, 19 Apr. 2020

"While the bats' social distancing could possibly limit a pathogen's spread, Stockmaier doesn't think these isolating behaviours have evolved to protect other bats. Instead, he says they may be a consequence of the bats' malaise and lethargy from feeling ill." — Jake Buehler, New Scientist, 6 May 2020

Did you know?

Malaise, which ultimately traces back to Old French, has been part of English since the 18th century. One of its most notable uses, however, came in 1979—well, sort of. U.S. President Jimmy Carter never actually used the word in his July 15 televised address, but it became known as the "malaise speech" all the same. In the speech, Carter described the U.S. as a nation facing a "crisis of confidence" and rife with "paralysis and stagnation and drift." He spoke of a "national malaise" a few days later, and it's not hard to see why the "malaise" name stuck. The speech was praised by some and criticized by others, but whatever your politics, it remains a vivid illustration of the meaning of malaise.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 10, 2020 is:

vivacious • \vuh-VAY-shus\  • adjective

: lively in temper, conduct, or spirit : sprightly

Examples:

The host was a vivacious woman with a knack for making people feel comfortable.

"Totoro, the story of two young girls and the wood spirits they befriend, is vivacious and warmhearted, trafficking in the everyday magic and fertile imagination of childhood." — Jason Bailey, The New York Times, 5 June 2020

Did you know?

It's no surprise that vivacious means "full of life," since it can be traced back to the Latin verb vivere, meaning "to live." The word was created around the mid-17th century using vivax, a vivere derivative meaning "long-lived, vigorous, or high-spirited." Other descendants of vivere in English include survive, revive, and victual—all of which came to life during the 15th century—and vivid and convivial, both of which surfaced around the same time as vivacious. Somewhat surprisingly, the word live is not related; it comes to us from the Old English word libban.