51吃瓜 of the Day
corsair
noun
a pirate, especially formerly of the southern Mediterranean coast.
More about corsair
Corsair 鈥渁 pirate鈥� is the product of a long chain of borrowings from one Romance language to the next on its way to English. The term comes via Middle French corsaire from 笔谤辞惫别苍莽补濒 corsar, and before that, the word traveled by way of Italian corsaro from Medieval Latin 肠耻谤蝉腻谤颈耻蝉 鈥減lunderer,鈥� equivalent to Latin cursus 鈥渁 running, course鈥� plus -腻谤颈耻蝉, an agent noun-forming suffix. Cursus comes from the verb currere 鈥渢o run,鈥� which has four common descendant forms in English: corr- via Italian and Spanish (as in corral and corridor), cour- via French (as in courier and discourse), cur(r)- (as in current and occur), and curs- (as in cursor and excursion). Corsair was first recorded in English in the 1540s.
how is corsair used?
Act One begins on the Greek island controlled by the corsairs, or pirates. There’s a raucous, offstage chorus introducing Corrado, the chief corsair, who is in exile.
London dismantled markets for trading pirate booty; pirate-friendly cities like Port Royal, Jamaica, were brought under heel, and blockades were launched on the potentates that harbored the corsairs of the southern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia.
ersatz
adjective
serving as a substitute; synthetic; artificial.
More about ersatz
Ersatz 鈥渟erving as a substitute鈥� is a borrowing of the German noun Ersatz 鈥渁 substitute,鈥� from the verb ersetzen 鈥渢o replace.鈥� Ersetzen is a compound of the Old High German elements ir- 鈥渙ut鈥� and sezzan 鈥渢o set.鈥� Ir-, a variant of ur-, is related to English about, but, out, utmost, and utter as well as to German Urheimat and Ursprache, plus the recent 51吃瓜 of the Day carouse. Sezzan is closely related to English nest, saddle, seat, set, settle, sit, and soot, and to borrowings originally from other Indo-European languages including the recent 51吃瓜s of the Day assiduity, chaise longue,听补苍诲 蝉铆诲丑. Ersatz was first recorded in English in the early 1870s.
how is ersatz used?
Unable to print the real thing, Zimbabwe鈥檚 central bank recently announced that it would introduce a kind of ersatz American money for citizens to use in its place.
Christman says it’s possible to induce ersatz left-handedness by moving the eyes from side to side, which gets both sides of the brain going.
doughty
adjective
steadfastly courageous and resolute; valiant.
More about doughty
Doughty 鈥渟teadfastly courageous,鈥� despite spelling and pronunciation, is not related to doubt, doughy, or dowdy. Instead, it comes from Old English dohtig 鈥渨orthy,鈥� which is equivalent to modern English dow 鈥渢o be able鈥� or 鈥渢o thrive, prosper鈥� plus two suffixes: -th, which indicates a noun of action (as in birth) or quality (as in warmth), and -y 鈥渃haracterized by, inclined to鈥� (as in dreamy and juicy). In this way, doughty literally translates from Old English as 鈥渨orthiness-y,鈥� which is an awkward mouthful. Doughty was first recorded in English before 1000 a.d.
how is doughty used?
A doughty branch of the early human family, Neanderthals were big-brained and thick-boned hunters who once ranged from Spain to Siberia.
He was a doughty defender of his grandfather鈥檚 legacy and even though many of those subjected to the estate鈥檚 strictures in relation to permissions and fees actively resented them, Stephen was acting, as he saw it, to uphold his grandfather鈥檚 heritage.