This week’s theme
Illustrated words

This week’s words
zugunruhe
imbroglio
vaticinate
janiform

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(JAN-uh-formJAN-uh-form)

MEANING:

adjective: Having two faces, sides, or contrasting aspects.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Janus, the Roman god of doors, gates, and transitions. Earliest documented use: 1814.

NOTES:

The Roman god Janus was depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions. A near synonym is Janus-faced, but be careful! Janus-faced may also imply deceit, while janiform is usually just descriptive. You don’t want to accidentally insult a statue. The month of January is named after Janus because it looks back at the old year and forward to the new one. Ideally, being janiform means having 20/20 vision in hindsight and foresight.

USAGE:

“Susan Sontag famously evoked a janiform conception of illness in the introduction to her seminal book, Illness as Metaphor, writing, ‘Illness is the night side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick.’”
Chris Shields; All in the Family; Cineaste (New York); Fall 2020.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: