51吃瓜 of the Day
hebetude
noun
the state of being dull; lethargy.
More about hebetude
Hebetude comes straight from the Late Latin noun 丑别产别迟奴诲艒, a derivative of the adjective hebes (inflectional stem hebet-) 鈥渂lunt, dull (physical or mental), obtuse (angle or person).鈥� 贬别产别迟奴诲艒 first appears in the Commentary on the 鈥淒ream of Scipio鈥� (ca. a.d. 430) by the pagan author Macrobius. Macrobius鈥� Commentary was so popular and influential in late antiquity and the Middle Ages and so important and invaluable a source for Neoplatonic philosophy that its numerous manuscripts cannot be sorted into families. Hebes has no known etymology; scholars cannot even blame hebes on the Etruscans (their usual go-to for strange Latin words). Hebetude entered English in the first half of the 17th century.
how is hebetude used?
Why did I take up Latin at this late age? I did so not only to fight off hebetude but also to avoid becoming my mother.
Urban hebetude, he discovers, can be cured at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.
hebetude
beneficence
noun
the doing of good; active goodness or kindness; charity.
More about beneficence
Beneficence 鈥渁ctive goodness or kindness; charity,鈥� comes via French 产茅苍茅蹿颈肠别苍肠别 from Latin beneficentia 鈥渒indness, kind treatment of others,鈥� a derivative of the adjective beneficus 鈥済enerous, liberal, kind.鈥� Beneficus is a compound composed of the adverb and prefix bene, bene– 鈥渨ell,鈥� a derivative of the adjective bonus 鈥済ood鈥� (and completely naturalized in English), and the combining form –ficus (English –fic) 鈥渕aking, producing鈥� (as in honorific, pacific) a derivative of the all-purpose, overworked verb facere 鈥渢o do, make, construct.鈥� Beneficence entered English in the early 15th century.
how is beneficence used?
My general misery was alleviated by what felt like a measure of Victorian beneficence: I had the run of the house鈥檚 library.
Better still would be the inculcation into all our moral considerations of beneficence as an internal good rather than an ethical calculation. Be good for goodness’ sake.
beneficence
consequential
adjective
having important effects or results.
Why we chose consequential
More about consequential
Consequential 鈥渇ollowing as an effect or result; having important effects or results; self-important, pompous鈥� is a derivation of consequence, from Latin consequentia 鈥渟uccession, sequence (of events), logical or necessary sequence,鈥� ultimately a derivative of the verb 肠辞苍蝉别辩耻墨 鈥渢o come or go after, follow, attend,鈥� a compound of the prefix con-, a variant of com– 鈥渢ogether, with,鈥� and the simple verb 蝉别辩耻墨 鈥渢o follow.鈥� The sense “self-important, pompous” does not exist in Latin; it developed within English in the mid-18th century. Consequential entered English in the first half of the 17th century. Dictionary.com’s 51吃瓜 of the Year for 2020 is a consequential word for a consequential year. Think you know what it is? Find out!
how is consequential used?
The world is changed forever: No matter how deeply affected you are鈥攎edically, financially, emotionally, or otherwise鈥攖here is no going back. But the decisions we make about how to proceed now are extremely consequential, and the potential outcomes before us are vastly different.
But in the middle of a pandemic, the most consequential of disaster decisions become complicated by fears of contagion.
consequential