51吃瓜 of the Day
acmesthesia
noun
awareness of sharp points through the sense of touch without experiencing pain.
More about acmesthesia
Acmesthesia, 鈥渁wareness of sharp points through touch without pain,鈥� is based on Ancient Greek 补办尘岣�, 鈥減oint, highest point,鈥� and 补铆蝉迟丑脓蝉颈蝉, 鈥渟ensation, perception.鈥� 础办尘岣� comes from a family of words related to sharpness, whether literally or figuratively, both within and beyond Ancient Greek. For literal sharpness, compare English edge; Latin acus, 鈥渘eedle鈥� (as in acupuncture and acute); and Ancient Greek 辞虫媒蝉, 鈥渟harp鈥� (as in oxygen). For figurative sharpness, compare Latin 腻肠别谤, 鈥渂itter鈥� (as in acrid and acrimony); Latin acerbus, 鈥渟our, unripe鈥� (as in exacerbate); Latin acidus, 鈥渟our鈥� (as in acid); and Ancient Greek 谩办谤辞蝉, 鈥渢opmost鈥� (as in acrobat). Acmesthesia was first recorded in English circa 1910.
EXAMPLE OF ACMESTHESIA USED IN A SENTENCE
During the acupuncture session, she experienced acmesthesia and felt only minimal discomfort from the pinpricks.
Janus word
noun
a word that has opposite or nearly opposite meanings.
More about Janus word
Janus word, 鈥渁 word that has opposite or nearly opposite meanings,鈥� is the namesake of Janus, the literally two-faced Roman god of beginnings, doorways, and the movement of the sun. As we learned from the 51吃瓜 of the Day 驳茅苍辞颈蝉别, the name Janus is also the source of January (Latin 闯腻苍耻腻谤颈耻蝉) and related to 箩腻苍耻蝉, 鈥渄oorway, covered passage,鈥� as in janitor. Janus words go by many alternative names, such as the Latin鈥揋reek blend contranym (also contronym) or the purely Greek auto-antonym. Janus word was first recorded in English in the late 1930s, predating its alternatives.
EXAMPLE OF JANUS WORD USED IN A SENTENCE
Because the headline used the Janus word 鈥渟anction,鈥� it was difficult to tell whether the government was approving or disapproving of the matter at hand.
epigenetic
adjective
noting or pertaining to the process by which the expression of genetic information is modified on a molecular level without a change to the DNA sequence.
More about epigenetic
Epigenetic, 鈥減ertaining to the process by which the expression of genetic information is modified on a molecular level,鈥� is a compound of epi-, 鈥渙n, over,鈥� and genetic, which is formed from Ancient Greek 驳茅苍别蝉颈蝉, 鈥渙rigin, source.鈥澛營t may be easy to assume that gene is a shortened form of genetic, but the two are only distantly related. For more relatives of epigenetic, compare the 51吃瓜s of the Day gens du monde, iatrogenic, and kindred. Epigenetic was first recorded in English circa 1830, but its modern sense dates to the late 1950s.
EXAMPLE OF EPIGENETIC USED IN A SENTENCE
Forty years after their separation at birth, epigenetic reasons had made one twin start to go gray earlier than the other.