A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Wed Apr 1 00:01:06 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--acarpous X-Bonus: Pride, like laudanum and other poisonous medicines, is beneficial in small, though injurious in large, quantities. No man who is not pleased with himself, even in a personal sense, can please others. -Frederick Saunders, librarian and essayist (1807-1902) This week's theme: A random walk through the dictionary acarpous (ay-KAHR-puhs) adjective Not producing fruit; sterile. [From Greek akarpos, from a- (not) + karpos (fruit). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kerp- (to gather or harvest) which is also the source of harvest, excerpt, carpet, and scarce.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "According to the doomsayers, if a satellite doesn't clobber you into the next millennium, there's always the danger its plutonium payload will turn your neighbourhood area into an acarpous wasteland." Adrian Bradley; Space Junk Roulette; The Australian (Sydney); Nov 19, 1996. -------- Date: Thu Apr 2 00:01:06 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--coetaneous X-Bonus: One man meets an infamous punishment for that crime which confers a diadem upon another. -Juvenal, poet (c. 60-140) This week's theme: A random walk through the dictionary coetaneous (ko-i-TAY-nee-uhs) adjective Having the same age; contemporary. [From Latin coaetaneus (contemporary), from co- (with) + aetas (age). Ultimately from the Indo-European root aiw-/ayu- (vital force, life, eternity) that is also the source of ever, never, aye, nay, eon, eternal, medieval, primeval, utopia, Sanskrit Ayurveda, and aught https://wordsmith.org/words/aught.html ] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "In 1993 Camilo Jose Cela published his Memorias, a painstakingly detailed narrative of his life, at odds in many points with a previously written biography by his son, Camilo Cela Conde, as well as with the recollections of his many friends and coetaneous narrators." Thilo Ullmann; Spain's Cela; World & I (Washington, DC); Jan 2002. -------- Date: Fri Apr 3 00:01:07 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pellucid X-Bonus: Nothing which does not transport is poetry. The lyre is a winged instrument. -Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824) This week's theme: A random walk through the dictionary pellucid (puh-LOO-sid) adjective 1. Admitting the maximum passage of light. 2. Clear; easy to understand. [From Latin pellucidus, from perlucere (to shine through), from per- (through) + lucere (to shine). Ultimately from the Indo-European root leuk- (light) that is also the source of other words such as lunar, lunatic, light, lightning, lucid, illuminate, illustrate, translucent, lux, and lynx.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Their [Dorothy Wordsworth's journals'] style, at times pellucid, at times opaque, lies somewhere between the rapture of a love letter and the portentousness of a thriller." Frances Wilson; The Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth; Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 2008. -------- Date: Mon Apr 6 00:01:05 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ciceronian X-Bonus: Some men of a secluded and studious life have sent forth from their closet or their cloister, rays of intellectual light that have agitated courts and revolutionized kingdoms; like the moon which, though far removed from the ocean, and shining upon it with a serene and sober light, is the chief cause of all those ebbings and flowings which incessantly disturb that restless world of waters. -Charles Caleb Colton, author and clergyman (1780-1832) Winning even one Nobel Prize is a big deal. Marie Curie received two (in physics and chemistry). But then hers was a family of high achievers: her husband, their daughter, and their son-in-law were also Nobel laureates. Similarly, having one's name turned into a word in the language is a rare feat. Yet there are some, both real and fictional characters, who have accomplished this more than once. This week we feature five such people. And Marie, well, she too had had two words coined after her: Curie, a unit of radioactivity, and curium, a radioactive element. ciceronian (sis-uh-RO-nee-uhn) adjective 1. Of or relating to Cicero. 2. In the style of Cicero, marked by ornate language, expansive flow, forcefulness of expression, etc. [After Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman, orator, and writer (106-43 BCE). Another eponym derived from Cicero's name is cicerone (a tour guide) https://wordsmith.org/words/cicerone.html ] A bust of Cicero at the Capitoline Museums, Rome: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/ciceronian.jpg (photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/antmoose/84543977/) -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Oxford University mooted the idea of establishing a business school six years ago, prompting 500 black-gowned dons to storm into the 17th-century Sheldonian Theatre in protest. Harvard's business school dates from 1908. Cambridge succumbed in 1990. But outraged Oxonians unleashed volleys of Ciceronian oratory, arguing that the groves of academe should be out of bounds to commerce." Tara Pepper; Oxford's Business Blues; Newsweek (New York); Sep 2, 2002. "Voices in the wilderness rarely speak in perfect Ciceronian cadences; why must we call (Edward Durell) Stone's work to such strict account?" James Trilling; A Piece of History; The New York Times; Apr 16, 2000. -------- Date: Tue Apr 7 00:01:06 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--maudlin X-Bonus: A fixed idea is like the iron rod which sculptors put in their statues. It impales and sustains. -Hippolyte Taine, critic and historian (1828-1893) This week's theme: People who have more than one eponym coined after them maudlin (MAWD-lin) adjective 1. Overly sentimental. 2. Foolishly sentimental because of drunkenness. [After Mary Magdalene, a Biblical character who was a follower of Jesus. In medieval art she was depicted as a penitent weeping for her sins (she washed the feet of Jesus with her tears) and her name became synonymous with tearful sentimentality. The name Magdalene means "of Magdala" in Greek and is derived after a town on the Sea of Galilee. The name Magdala, in turn, means tower in Aramaic. So here we have a word coined after a person, who was named after a place, which was named after a thing. In an allusion to her earlier life, Mary Magdalene's name has sprouted another eponym, magdalene, meaning a reformed prostitute.] Mary Magdalene by Titian: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/maudlin_large.jpg -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "In this maudlin melodrama, all that was missing were the violins." Jeannette Layne-Clark; Minister on Stage; Daily Nation (Barbados); Mar 20, 2005. -------- Date: Wed Apr 8 00:01:06 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hermetic X-Bonus: Ah! what a divine religion might be found out if charity were really made the principle of it instead of faith. -Percy Bysshe Shelley, poet (1792-1822) This week's theme: People who have more than one eponym coined after them hermetic (huhr-MET-ik) adjective 1. Airtight. 2. Not affected by outside influence. 3. Relating to the occult sciences, especially alchemy; magical. 4. Obscure or hard to understand. [From the belief that Hermes Trismegistus invented a seal to keep a vessel airtight in alchemy. Who was Hermes Trismegistus? It was the name of a legendary figure that Greek neo-Platonists thought was a blend of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. Trismegistos is Greek for thrice-greatest, from tris (thrice) + megistos (greatest), ultimately from the Indo-European root meg- (great) that's also the source of words such as magnificent, maharajah, mahatma, master, mayor, maestro, magnate, magistrate, maximum, and magnify.] Another word coined after Hermes is hermeneutic meaning interpretive or explanatory. https://wordsmith.org/words/hermeneutic.html Hermes Trismegistus, from a floor mosaic in Siena Cathedral, Italy https://wordsmith.org/words/images/hermetic_large.jpg -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "So far, however, the net increase in accessibility and therefore accountability is welcome and popular compared to the hermetic secrecy and executive authoritarianism of the Bush administration." Obama Makes An Early Impression; The Irish Times (Dublin); Mar 27, 2009. -------- Date: Thu Apr 9 00:01:07 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Cadmean victory X-Bonus: In youth we feel richer for every new illusion; in maturer years, for every one we lose. -Madame Anne Sophie Swetchine, mystic (1782-1857) This week's theme: People who have more than one eponym coined after them Cadmean victory (kad-MEE-uhn VIK-tuh-ree) noun A victory won at as great a cost to the victor as to the vanquished. [After Cadmus, a Phoenician prince in Greek mythology who introduced writing to the Greeks and founded the city of Thebes. Near the site where Cadmus was to build Thebes he encountered a dragon. Even though he managed to kill the dragon, only five of his comrades survived, with whom he founded the city. Other words coined after him are calamine (a pink powder used in skin lotions), from Latin calamina, from Greek kadmeia ge (Cadmean earth) and the name of the chemical element cadmium.] A similar eponym is Pyrrhic victory: https://wordsmith.org/words/pyrrhic_victory.html Cadmus slaying the dragon, painting by Hendrick Goltzius, Koldinghus Museum, Denmark: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/cadmean_victory_large.jpg -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "In the real world, governed equally by the market and natural economies, humanity is in a final struggle with the rest of life. If it presses on, it will win a Cadmean victory, in which first the biosphere loses, then humanity." Edward O. Wilson; The Future of Life; Knopf; 2002. -------- Date: Fri Apr 10 00:01:05 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pickwickian X-Bonus: We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we move from the passive voice to the active voice - that is, until we have stopped saying 'It got lost,' and say, 'I lost it.' -Sydney J. Harris, journalist (1917-1986) This week's theme: People who have more than one eponym coined after them Pickwickian (pik-WIK-ee-uhn) adjective 1. Marked by generosity, naivete, or innocence. 2. Not intended to be taken in a literal sense. [After Samuel Pickwick, a character in the novel Pickwick Papers (serialized 1836-1837) by Charles Dickens. Mr Pickwick is known for his simplicity and kindness. In the novel Mr. Pickwick and Mr. Blotton call each other names and it appears later that they were using the offensive words only in a Pickwickian sense and had the highest regard for each other. Another term that arose from the book is Pickwickian syndrome, which refers to a combination of interlinked symptoms such as extreme obesity, shallow breathing, tiredness, sleepiness, etc. The character with these symptoms was not Mr. Pickwick, but Fat Joe, so the term is really coined after the book's title. The medical term for the condition is obesity-hypoventilation syndrome.] Mr. Pickwick, illustrated by Frederick Barnard: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pickwickian_large.jpg -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "I kept a happiness diary, after the discovery by Professor Sonia Lyubomirsky that collating one's daily blessings resulted in Pickwickian good cheer." Hannah Betts; The Pursuit of Happiness is Driving Me to Despair; The Daily Telegraph (London, UK); Apr 3, 2009. "Mr. Tribe: Now, anybody reading that would realize that's a deadline only in a kind of Pickwickian sense. It's not a real deadline." A Transcript of Arguments in the Supreme Court Over the Florida Recount; The New York Times; Dec 2, 2000. "A Pickwickian chairman, rosy-cheeked, in frock coat and old-fashioned cravat, adopted the role of Santa Claus." Mungo MacCallum; Growing Up: The Day Had Come; Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Jan 21, 1987. -------- Date: Mon Apr 13 00:01:06 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--passe-partout X-Bonus: A man should live with his superiors as he does with his fire: not too near, lest he burn; nor too far off, lest he freeze. -Diogenes, philosopher (412?-323 BCE) In Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass", the Red Queen tells Alice, "Speak in French when you can't remember the English for a thing." That's perhaps not bad advice considering that beaucoup words in the English language have arrived via French. While French is a Romance language and English a Germanic one, the twists and turns of history have led to the two tongues having much in common. The English language borrowed from French, and vice versa. This borrowing often resulted in English having two near-synonyms to describe something (e.g. freedom/liberty, answer/respond). Sometimes the borrowed word is lent back. English budget came via French bougette (little bag), and was then exported back to French with its new sense. This week we'll look at five French terms that are often used in English. passe-partout (pas-pahr-TOO) noun 1. Something, for example a master key, that enables unrestricted access. 2. An ornamental mat used to frame a picture. 3. An adhesive tape used to attach a picture to a mat, glass, backing, etc. [From French, literally, passes everywhere, from passer (to pass) + partout (everywhere), from par (through) + tout (all).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Francesco Isolabella, one of her lawyers, said, 'Marion True is being used as an excuse to criminalize all American museums.' Ms. True should not be used 'as a passe-partout to get at the Getty'." Elisabetta Povoledo; Casting Blame for Looting In Trial of Getty Ex-Curator; The New York Times; Jan 18, 2007. -------- Date: Tue Apr 14 00:01:07 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tranche X-Bonus: Poetry, indeed, cannot be translated; and, therefore, it is the poets that preserve the languages; for we would not be at the trouble to learn a language if we could have all that is written in it just as well in a translation. But as the beauties of poetry cannot be preserved in any language except that in which it was originally written, we learn the language. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784) This week's theme: Terms from French tranche (transh) noun A portion, especially of money, investment, etc. [From French tranche (slice), from trancher (to cut).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Some of the banks, including Central Bank of India and Vijaya Bank, have already received the first tranche of capital." Mergers of Public Sector Banks Favoured; Business Standard (Mumbai, India); Mar 31, 2009. -------- Date: Wed Apr 15 00:01:06 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--beau monde X-Bonus: How easy to be amiable in the midst of happiness and success. -Madame Anne Sophie Swetchine, mystic (1782-1857) This week's theme: Terms from French beau monde (BO mond) noun The world of fashion; high society. [From French, literally, fine world.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The wealthy can be entertainingly absurd, as in Hannah Greig's enjoyable account of the struggles of the Countess of Strafford to be accepted as a leader of London's beau monde in the early 18th century." John Mullan; Vex'd by Wallpaper; The Guardian (London, UK); Aug 18, 2007. -------- Date: Thu Apr 16 00:01:06 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bien-pensant X-Bonus: Truth, in matters of religion, is simply the opinion that has survived. -Oscar Wilde, writer (1854-1900) This week's theme: Terms from French bien-pensant (bee-aN poN-saN [the last three syllables are nasal]) adjective 1. Right-thinking; conservative; conformist. 2. Self-righteous. noun 1. A right-thinking person. 2. A self-righteous person. [From French, literally well thinking, from bien (well), + penser (to think).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "But the problem is that one man's superstition is another man's religion, and vice versa. Many Protestants today still see Catholicism as being rife with superstition, ... while atheists and agnostics would see bien-pensant Protestants as worshiping an equally absurd form of the supernatural." David Gibson; Is One Man's Faith Another's Superstition?; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Mar 27, 2009. "We North London bien pensant types do our best, we really do." Peter York; How to Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is; The Independent (London, UK); Sep 17, 2006. -------- Date: Fri Apr 17 00:01:10 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pas de deux X-Bonus: He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. -John Stuart Mill, philosopher and economist (1806-1873) This week's theme: Terms from French pas de deux (pah duh DU) noun 1. A dance for two people. 2. A close relationship between two people or things involved in an activity. [From French, literally step of two.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "This novel [The Song Is You] is a pas de deux between a young singer-songwriter and the much older man who actively, obsessively inspires her." Kate Christensen; Always on My Mind; The New York Times; Apr 10, 2009. "One of the many paradoxes of this place we call home is the pas de deux of life and death." G. D. Maxwell; Screaming Into the Void; Pique Newsmagzaine (Whistler, Canada); Apr 8, 2009. -------- Date: Mon Apr 20 00:01:07 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--perendinate X-Bonus: In their youth both Herder and Schiller intended to study as surgeons, but Destiny said: "No, there are deeper wounds than those of the body, -- heal the deeper!" and they wrote. -Jean Paul Richter, writer (1763-1825) There are two times in life when we are most likely to be lost for words: when we're happiest and when we're saddest. For other occasions, we can usually think of a word. With such a large wordstock in its coffers, the English language is at the ready to supply just the right word. Stock up your verbal reserve with these week's words, words that may make you say, "I didn't know there was a word for it!" perendinate (puh-REN-di-nayt) verb tr. To put off until the day after tomorrow. verb intr. To stay at a college for an extended time. [From Latin perendinare (to defer until the day after tomorrow), from perendie (on the day after tomorrow), from dies (day).] The word procrastinate is from Latin cras (tomorrow). So when you procrastinate, literally speaking, you are putting something off till tomorrow. Mark Twain once said, "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow." In other words, why procrastinate when you can perendinate? -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "In Peterhouse the Master and Fellows might not allow a stranger to perendinate for more than a fortnight unless they were certified of his moral character and of his ability and willingness to do the College some notable service." Thomas Alfred Walker; Peterhouse; Hutchinson & Co.; 1906. -------- Date: Tue Apr 21 00:01:06 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--moirologist X-Bonus: Oh, it is excellent to have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant. -William Shakespeare, playwright and poet (1564-1616) This week's theme: There is a word for it moirologist (moy-ROL-uh-jist) noun A hired mourner. [From Greek moira (fate, death) + logos (word).] There are some things in life money can't buy, for everything else, there's MasterCard. With the right credit card you could even hire mourners for your funeral or find the right sentiment. While researching this word, I came across websites that offer "eulogy packs". One such site lists a "Mother's Eulogy pack" that includes "9 speeches, 3 poems, 3 free bonus". Only $25.95 -- have your credit card ready. Fathers go cheaper: $19.97. Let's not be too smug and look down upon those who buy these packs. When we go to the neighborhood store to buy a greeting card or a sympathy card, we're also hiring someone to package words to help us convey our feelings. Professional mourners are not a new thing either -- there's a long tradition going back to ancient Greece and beyond. As late as 1908 a New York Times article reported on a professional mourners' strike in Paris. Then there is claque, a group of people hired to applaud a performer at a show. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "There may be found traces, too, of Lethe, the river of forgetfulness in the death ballads sung by the hired mourners... The moirologists will sing of the loneliness of the living, of the horrors of death." George Walter Prothero; The Quarterly Review; John Murray (London, UK); 1886. -------- Date: Wed Apr 22 00:01:06 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--prosopagnosia X-Bonus: When a nation gives birth to a man who is able to produce a great thought, another is born who is able to understand and admire it. -Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824) This week's theme: There is a word for it prosopagnosia (pros-uh-pag-NO-see-uh) noun Inability to recognize familiar faces. [From Greek prosopon (face, mask), from pros- (near) + opon (face), from ops (eye) + agnosia (ignorance). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gno- (to know) that is also the source of know, recognize, acquaint, ignore, diagnosis, notice, and normal.] Prosopagnosia is also known as face blindness, usually a result of brain injury. People suffering from it cannot recognize familiar faces, even their own. A book on this and related topics is neurologist Oliver Sacks's "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat": http://www.amazon.com/o/asin/0684853949/ws00-20 Prosopagnosiacs' motto: We don't take people at face value. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Rob Cross, 25, acquired prosopagnosia four years ago when a virus attacked his brain. For years, he has hidden his condition by avoiding calling his co-workers at a Burnaby manufacturing company by name, or acting slightly aloof. 'Every morning people say, "Hi Rob," and the majority of the time I don't know who it is,' said Mr. Cross." Hayley Mick; We Know Each Other, But Who Are You?; Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Jan 10, 2008. -------- Date: Thu Apr 23 00:01:07 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--xanthodontous X-Bonus: Oh, how small a portion of earth will hold us when we are dead, who ambitiously seek after the whole world while we are living! -Philip of Macedon, king, father of Alexander the Great (382-336 BCE) This week's theme: There is a word for it xanthodontous (zan-tho-DON-tuhs) adjective Having yellow teeth. [From Greek xanthos (yellow) + -odon (toothed).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "That I am becoming, or have become, xanthodontous cannot be of interest to anybody." Reginald Moore, Edward Lane; The Windmill (London, UK); 1946. -------- Date: Fri Apr 24 00:01:07 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--borborygmus X-Bonus: Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous. -Confucius, philosopher and teacher (c. 551-478 BCE) This week's theme: There is a word for it borborygmus (bor-buh-RIG-muhs) noun A rumbling noise caused by the movement of gas through the intestines. [From Greek borborygmos (intestinal rumbling), an onomatopoeic word to describe the sound.] Borborygmi are usually harmless, they are simply a result of gas movement around the stomach. And the rumbling sound doesn't mean one is hungry either. We can't really do anything about the sound of a stomach growling, but we can take comfort in the fact that at least we know a fancy word to describe it. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "And the piece de resistance: 'He was woken early by borborygmus as his insides fermented and his intestines ballooned with gas beyond their capacity.'" Ruth Dudley Edwards; Book Review / Straying Into A Dark, Ugly And Sick World; The Independent (London, UK); Sep 21, 1994. -------- Date: Mon Apr 27 00:01:06 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--maritorious X-Bonus: The soundest argument will produce no more conviction in an empty head than the most superficial declamation; as a feather and a guinea fall with equal velocity in a vacuum. -Charles Caleb Colton, author and clergyman (1780-1832) As we head towards equality of the sexes, the same word works fine for both. Today one who teaches is simply a teacher, compared to earlier days when we had teachers and teacheresses, depending on their anatomy. This is a good thing: why have two separate words when a person's gender has no bearing on the job? But sometimes separate words are necessary to convey a distinction. This week we'll feature five words that relate specifically to either men or women, and we'll also include words for him or for her. maritorious (ma-ri-TOR-ee-uhs) adjective Excessively fond of one's husband. [From Latin maritus (married, husband).] The word to describe a husband who is excessively fond of a wife is uxorious. The word maritorious is rare, while uxorious is fairly well known. What does that say about the relative fondness of husbands and wives to each other? -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Dames maritorious ne'er were meritorious." George Chapman; The Tragedy of Bussy D'Ambois; 1607. -------- Date: Tue Apr 28 00:01:06 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--patrocliny X-Bonus: Oh, would that my mind could let fall its dead ideas, as the tree does its withered leaves! -Andre Gide, author, Nobel laureate (1869-1951) This week's theme: Words for him and her patrocliny or patricliny (PA-truh-kli-nee) noun Inheritance of traits primarily from the father. [From Greek patro- (father) + klinein (to lean). Ultimately from the Indo-European root klei- (to lean) that is also the source of lean, incline, ladder, lid, client, climate, and climax.] The female counterpart of this term is matrocliny https://wordsmith.org/words/matrocliny.html -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Common to all was the early modern ideal of nobility that prized purity above antiquity; quarterings [joining different coats of arms to symbolize various ancestries] together above patrocliny, and virtue above ethnicity." William D. Godsey; Nobles and Nation in Central Europe; Cambridge University Press; 2004. -------- Date: Wed Apr 29 00:01:07 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--misogyny X-Bonus: Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God? -Epicurus, philosopher (c. 341-270 BCE) This week's theme: Words for him and her misogyny (mi-SOJ-uh-nee) noun Hatred of women. [From Greek miso- (hate) + gyne (woman).] The opposite of misogyny is philogyny https://wordsmith.org/words/philogyny.html and its male counterpart misandry: https://wordsmith.org/words/misandry.html An equal opportunity hater would be misanthrope: https://wordsmith.org/words/misanthrope.html -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "This event [the Montreal massacre of 1989] has, of course, come to mean something more than the horrific killing of 14 female engineering students at Montreal's L'École Polytechnique by disturbed gunman Marc Lépine, who said before killing them and eventually himself that he hated 'all feminists'. A ritual observance of the event every year on its anniversary, Dec. 6, enshrines it as our most potent symbol of misogyny and male violence against women." Judith Timson; Let's Stop This Talk of Cowards; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Apr 7, 2009 . -------- Date: Thu Apr 30 00:01:07 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--materfamilias X-Bonus: They're too close to the trees to see the forest. People in California or New York understand that Alaska is not so big. They live in places where the wilderness once seemed limitless, but they know it disappears. -Edgar Wayburn, environmentalist and doctor (b. 1906) This week's theme: Words for him and her materfamilias (may-tuhr-fuh-MIL-ee-uhs) noun The female head of a family, household, tribe, etc. [From Latin materfamilias, from mater (mother) + familias, from familia (household), from famulus (servant, slave).] Paterfamilias is the masculine equivalent of the word. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Equally, as materfamilias, she [Queen Elizabeth] will have time to devote to the motherless Prince William, and to groom him for kingship while his father reigns." Tunku Varadarajan; A New Queen Mum?; The Wall Street Journal (New York, NY); Apr 2, 2002. "First we have Nora [Nina Poliakoff], materfamilias of the bizarre brood in whose home this absurdist mystery-farce takes place." K.C. Compton; CSF Opener is a Metaphor For Confusion; Santa Fe New Mexican; Oct 14, 1994.