Word of the day

Tribology (noun)

1. (physics, engineering) The science and technology of friction, lubrication, and wear.

Tmesis (noun)

1. (prosody) The insertion of one or more words between the components of a compound word.

Unbirthday (noun)

1. A day that is not one's birthday but is celebrated as though it were.

Malevolence (noun)

1. Evil disposition or hatred towards another; the intention to harm others.
2. Behavior indicating spite and ill will.
3. A fictional character created by Bad Wolf for the Transformers Heavy Metal War* and Pax Cybertronia Role Play Game (RPG).

Ideogram (noun)

1. A symbol which represents the idea of something without indicating the sequence of sounds used to pronounce it.

heterographic (adj)

1. Misspelled; of or pertaining to an incorrect spelling or a spelling that differs from accepted standards.
2. (linguistics) Of a writing system in which a particular symbol represents more than one possible sound.

Klatch (noun)

1. An informal social gathering, especially for the purpose of conversation.

Dodecahedron (noun)

1. (geometry) A polyhedron with twelve faces; the regular dodecahedron has twelve regular pentagons as faces.

Lexicon (noun)

1. (linguistics) A dictionary that includes or focuses on vocabulary.
2. A dictionary of Classical Greek, Hebrew, Latin, or Aramaic.
3. The vocabulary employed by or known to an individual.

Ennead (noun)

1. The number nine.
2. Any grouping or system containing nine objects.

illecebrous (adj)

1. Tending to attract; enticing.

Antidictionary (noun)

1. The set of all words of minimal length that never appear in a particular string.

Pyx (noun)

1. A small, usually round container used to hold the host (“consecrated bread or wafer of the Eucharist”), especially when bringing communion to the sick or others unable to attend Mass.
2. A (small) box; a casket, a coffret.
3. A box used in a mint as a place to deposit sample coins intended to have the fineness of their metal and their weight tested before the coins are issued to the public.
4. A compass used by sailors.

pyx (verb)

1. To place (the host) in a pyx.
2. To enclose (something) in a box or other container; specifically, to place (a deceased person's body) in a coffin; to coffin, to encoffin.
3. To deposit (sample coins) in a pyx; (by extension) to test (such coins) for the fineness of metal and weight before a mint issues them to the public.

Pandeism (noun)

1. A belief in a god who is both pantheistic and deistic, in particular a god who designed the universe and then became it and ceased to exist separately and act consciously with respect to it.
2. Worship which admits or tolerates favorable aspects of all religions; omnitheism.

Nexus (noun)

1. A form or state of connection.
2. The relationship between a vendor and a jurisdiction for the purpose of taxation, established for example by the vendor operating a physical store in that jurisdiction.
3. A connected group; a network, a web.
4. A center or focus of something.
5. In the work of the Danish linguist Otto Jespersen (1860–1943): a group of words expressing two concepts in one unit (such as a clause or sentence).
6. A person who had contracted a nexum or obligation of such a kind that, if they failed to pay, their creditor could compel them to work as a servant until the debt was paid; an indentured servant.

Æviternity (noun)

1. Synonym of eternity (“existence without end”)
2. Synonym of ævum (“the temporal mode of existence between time and eternity, said to be experienced by angels, saints, and celestial bodies (which medieval astronomy believed to be unchanging)”)

Quefrency (noun)

1. The inverse of the distance between successive lines in a Fourier transform, measured in seconds.

Orature (noun)

1. The oral equivalent of literature: a collection of traditional folk songs, stories, etc., that is communicated orally rather than in writing.

Unobtainium (noun)

1. A fictional component or material which, if it existed, would enable one to easily solve a hard problem.
2. An especially rare component that is almost impossible to get hold of.
3. A high technology component that is extremely expensive.

hesternal (adj)

1. Of or pertaining to yesterday.

Word (noun)

1. The smallest unit of language that has a particular meaning and can be expressed by itself; the smallest discrete, meaningful unit of language.
2. Something like such a unit of language:
  a. A sequence of letters, characters, or sounds, considered as a discrete entity, though it does not necessarily belong to a language or have a meaning.
  b. (telegraphy) A unit of text equivalent to five characters and one space. [from 19th c.]
  c. (computing) A fixed-size group of bits handled as a unit by a machine and which can be stored in or retrieved from a typical register (so that it has the same size as such a register). [from 20th c.]
  d. (computer science) A finite string that is not a command or operator. [from 20th or 21st c.]
  e. (group theory) A group element, expressed as a product of group elements.
3. The fact or act of speaking, as opposed to taking action. [from 9th c].
4. Something that someone said; a comment, utterance; speech. [from 10th c.]
5. A watchword or rallying cry, a verbal signal (even when consisting of multiple words).
6. A proverb or motto.
7. News; tidings. [from 10th c.]
8. An order; a request or instruction; an expression of will. [from 10th c.]
9. A promise; an oath or guarantee. [from 10th c.]
10. A brief discussion or conversation. [from 15th c.]
11. A minor reprimand.
12. Communication from God; the message of the Christian gospel; the Bible, Scripture. [from 10th c.]
13. Logos, Christ. [from 8th c.]

word (verb)

1. To say or write (something) using particular words; to phrase (something).
2. To flatter with words, to cajole.
3. To ply or overpower with words.
4. To conjure with a word.
5. To speak, to use words; to converse, to discourse.

word (interjection)

1. Truth, indeed, that is the truth! The shortened form of the statement "My word is my bond."
2. An abbreviated form of word up; a statement of the acknowledgment of fact with a hint of nonchalant approval.

Catalytic converter (noun)

A chamber containing a finely divided platinum catalyst in which carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons from vehicle exhaust are oxidized to carbon dioxide.

visceral (adj)

1. Of or relating to, made up of, or positioned among or within, the viscera (“internal organs of the body, especially those contained within the abdominal and thoracic cavities”).
       a. Of a disease: involving the viscera.
       b. Of or relating to the viscera or bowels formerly regarded as the origin of a person's emotions; hence (figuratively), relating to or having deep internal feelings or sensibility.
2. Having to do with the response of the body as opposed to the intellect, as in the distinction between feeling and thinking.
3. Situated in the viscera or the interior of the body.

Aphelion (noun)

1. The point in the elliptical orbit of a comet, planet, or other astronomical object, where it is farthest from the Sun.
2. A fiction character in Marvel Comics created by Grace Freud, Scott B. Henderson. Reed Fox, a.k.a. Aphelion, is a superhero with a black hole in their chest. 1st appearance Marvel's Voices: Pride (Vol. 2) #1 (June, 2022).

Pijin (noun)

1. In full Solomon Islands Pijin, Solomon Pijin, or Solomons Pijin: a language spoken on the Solomon Islands, which is a form of Melanesian Pidgin.

thwack (verb)

1. To hit (someone or something) hard, especially with a flat implement or a stick; to thrash, to whack.
2. To drive or force (someone or something) by, or as if by, beating or hitting; to knock.
3. To pack (people or things) closely together; to cram.
4. To decisively defeat (someone) in a contest; to beat, to thrash.
5. To crowd or pack (a place or thing) with people, objects, etc.
6. To fall down hard with a thump.
7. To be crammed or filled full.
8. Of people: to crowd or pack a place.

Thwack (noun)

1. An act of hitting hard, especially with a flat implement or a stick; a whack; also, a powerful stroke involved in such hitting; a blow, a strike.
2. A dull or heavy slapping sound.

thwack (interj)

1. Used to represent the dull or heavy sound of someone or something being hit or slapped.