Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 1, 2021 is:

gazette • \guh-ZET\  • noun

1 : a paper that is printed and distributed usually daily or weekly and that contains news, articles of opinion, features, and advertising : newspaper

2 : an official journal

3 British : an announcement in an official gazette

Examples:

The weekly gazette includes a list of the names of students who have made local schools' honor rolls.

"French media group Lagardere, the owner of Paris Match magazine, has received a 465 million euro ($564 million) state-guaranteed loan to help it cope with the economic fallout of the pandemic, the government’s official gazette said on Sunday." — Reuters, 3 Jan. 2021

Did you know?

You are probably familiar with the word gazette from its use in the names of a number of newspapers, but the original Gazettes were a series of bulletins published in England in the 17th and early 18th centuries. These official journals contained notices of government appointments and promotions, as well as items like bankruptcies, property transfers, and engagements. In British English, gazette can also refer to the kind of announcement that one might find in such a publication. It can also be used as a verb meaning "to announce or publish in a gazette." The word derives via French from Italian gazetta. The related word gazetteer, which we now use for a dictionary of place names, once meant "journalist" or "publicist."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 28, 2021 is:

deference • \DEF-uh-runss\  • noun

: respect and esteem due a superior or an elder; also : affected or ingratiating regard for another's wishes

Examples:

"The 41-page filing answered government arguments that appeals rules give trial judges a lot of deference to make findings about facts, such as whether a juror is following court rules." — Steve Patterson, The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Florida), 19 Jan. 2021

"'Where once he was a youthful firebrand,' Mr. Peterson said, Mr. Museveni 'now speaks as an elder, reminding his people about the virtues of the old culture, demanding deference, excoriating the decadence of the young.'" — Abdi Latif Dahir, The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2021

Did you know?

We need to be specific when we tell you that deference and defer both derive from the Medieval Latin dēferre, which means "to convey, show respect, submit to a decision," because there are two defers in the English language. The defer related to deference is typically used with to in contexts having to do either with allowing someone else to decide or choose something, as in "I'll defer to the experts," or with agreeing to follow someone else's decision, wish, etc., as when a court defers to precedent. The other defer traces to the Latin differre, meaning "to carry away in varying directions, spread abroad, postpone, delay, be unlike or distinct." That defer is typically used in contexts having to do with delaying or postponing something, as in "a willingness to defer the decision until next month."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 27, 2021 is:

turbid • \TER-bid\  • adjective

1 a : thick or opaque with or as with roiled sediment

b : heavy with smoke or mist

2 a : deficient in clarity or purity : foul, muddy

b : characterized by or producing obscurity (as of mind or emotions)

Examples:

The speed of the water flowing over the dam becomes obvious only when one observes the turbid water roiling below.

"Muddy, nutrient-rich lake water can harm the river, making it turbid and feeding algae blooms. Plus, it just looks nasty." — Amy Bennett Williams, The Naples (Florida) Daily News, 21 Oct. 2020

Did you know?

Turbid and turgid (which means "swollen or distended" or "overblown, pompous, or bombastic") are frequently mistaken for one another, and it's no wonder. Not only do the two words differ by only a letter, they are often used in contexts where either word could fit. For example, a flooded stream can be simultaneously cloudy and swollen, and badly written prose might be both unclear and grandiloquent. Nevertheless, the distinction between these two words, however fine, is an important one for conveying exact shades of meaning, so it's a good idea to keep them straight. Turbid, like its relative turbulent, comes ultimately from the Latin noun turba, meaning "confusion" or "crowd."