temerity | Word of the Day

February 06, 2019 temerity [tuh-mer-i-tee] noun 1. reckless boldness; rashness. word-trends Is "Crude" The Right Word To Use To Describe Someone's Language? in-the-news Why Can't Women Swear? WORD OF THE DAY temerity continued... QUOTES ... he was taken aback by skeptical reviews that had the temerity to question his research methods or his conclusions. -- Jennifer Szalai, "Steven Pinker Wants You to Know Humanity Is Doing Fine. Just Don't Ask About Individual Humans." New York Times, February 28, 2018 ORIGIN Temerity ultimately comes from the Latin noun temeritās (inflectional stem temeritāt-) "rashness, recklessness, thoughtlessness." The Latin noun is a derivative of the adverb temerē (with the same meanings), and temerē in form is a fossil form of an assumed noun temus (stem temer-) "darkness" and meant "in the dark, blindly." The Latin forms come from a Proto-Indo-European root teme- "dark," with a suffixed noun form temesra "darkness." Temesra in Latin becomes tenebrae (plural noun) "darkness" (source of tenebrous). The Latin name for the River Thames is Tamesis (Tamesa), adapted from a local Celtic language in which Tamesas means "dark river." Temerity entered English in the 15th century. MORE FOR YOU 1 What Does It Mean To Be Electable? The word electable seems self-explanatory. Technically, it means "capable of, or having a reasonable chance of being elected." But, what are we really talking about when we say that someone is electable? 2 The Meteoric Rise Of The Word "Influencer" The word influencer has been used in English since the mid-1600s, though of course back then it wasn't a job title. 3 Idioms Used Incorrectly In Famous Situations When idioms are misused, quite a bit can be lost in translation, leaving the audience scratching their heads (we've done a slideshow on that too!). A gaffe between friends is one thing, but what about when the whole world is listening? Pretty embarrassing ... or learning moment? Either way, here are 10 times idioms were used incorrectly in famous situations. 4 Perfect Quotes To Inspire Your Dinner Conversation Stuck for small talk? Take some advice from these famous authors and spice up your conversation. 5 Suspicious Slang Your Kids Are Using Kids are crafty—and so they've invented some new words to use in times of exasperation, anger, or when just trying to fit in. Do you know what these slang words mean? © 2018 Dictionary.com, LLC. ABOUT CONTACT You are subscribed to the Word of the Day as: matzom229@gmail.com Subscriber since: September 06, 2017 Unsubscribe Dictionary.com, LLC. 555 12th Street Suite 500 Oakland CA 94607 Manage your subscription Terms & Privacy