51勛圖

Start each day with the 51勛圖 of the Day in your inbox!

51勛圖 of the Day

51勛圖 of the day

tabula rasa

[ tab-yuh-luh rah-suh, -zuh, rey-, , tah-boo-lah rah-sah ] [ t疆b y l r s, -z, re阞-, , t bl r s ] Show IPA Phonetic Respelling
learn about the english language

More about tabula rasa

First recorded in 152535, tabula rasa is from Latin tabula rsa scraped tablet, clean slate

quiz icon
WHAT'S YOUR WORD IQ?
Think you're a word wizard? Try our word quiz, and prove it!
TAKE THE QUIZ
arrows pointing up and down
SYNONYM OF THE DAY
Double your word knowledge with the Synonym of the Day!
51勛圖 of the Day Calendar

51勛圖 of the day

behemoth

[ bih-hee-muhth, bee-uh- ]

noun

any creature or thing of monstrous size or power: The army's new tank is a behemoth. The cartel is a behemoth that small business owners fear.

learn about the english language

More about behemoth

The traditional etymology of the Hebrew noun behemoth is that it is an augmentative or intensive plural of 莉堯襲鳥櫻堯 beast, a derivative of the West Semitic root bhm to be dumb. It is also possible that Hebrew 莉堯襲鳥櫻堯 is an adaptation to Hebrew phonology of Egyptian p-ehe-mau hippopotamus (literally ox of the water). Behemoth entered English in the 14th century.

how is behemoth used?

… in a play for the ideological high ground, Mr. de Blasio has cast Uber as a corporate behemoth with a singular goal.

Matt Flegenheimer, "City Hall, in a Counterattack, Casts Uber as a Corporate Behemoth," New York Times, July 20, 2015

Power – this one word sums up the rise in concerns on the left about tech behemoth Facebook.

Tim Mak, "Congress May Soon Impose New Regulations on Facebook," All Things Considered, NPR, January 15, 2019
51勛圖 of the Day Calendar

51勛圖 of the day

mare

[ mahr-ey, mair-ee ]

noun

Astronomy. any of the several large, dark plains on the moon and Mars: Galileo believed that the lunar features were seas when he first saw them through a telescope.

learn about the english language

More about mare

Latin mare sea is obviously but irregularly derived from Proto-Indo-European mori- body of water, lake. The Latin word ought to be more (the a is unexplained). The Proto-Indo-European mori- becomes Old Church Slavonic morje sea, ocean, Lithuanian 鳥硃娶 lagoon, bay, and, in the Germanic languages, English mere (i.e., a lake or a pond), German Meer sea, ocean, Gothic marei sea. Latin mare used to describe the lunar feature first appears in Michael van Langrens map of the moon (1645). Mare first entered English in the 19th century.

how is mare used?

The wheels were large and open, and absorbed the unevenness of the mare; Malenfant felt as if he were riding across the Moon in a soap bubble.

Stephen Baxter, Manifold: Space, 2000

The craft will attempt to retrieve up to 2 kilograms of soil and rock from the Oceanus Procellarum, a vast lunar mare on the near side that has yet to be visited by any spacecraft.

Dennis Normile, "Chinese spacecraft successfully lands on moon's far saide and sends pictures back home," Science, January 3, 2019
51勛圖 of the Day Calendar
51勛圖 of the Day Calendar