51吃瓜 of the Day
eristic
adjective
pertaining to controversy or disputation; controversial.
More about eristic
Eristic, 鈥減ertaining to controversy,鈥� ultimately comes from Ancient Greek 茅谤颈蝉, 鈥渟trife, discord,鈥� which is also the origin of Eris, the Greek goddess of discord who instigated the Trojan War. In keeping with the tradition of naming astronomical bodies after mythological figures, the International Astronomical Union recognized Eris as the name of a dwarf planet first discovered on January 5, 2005. The noun 茅谤颈蝉 is of unknown origin, and appropriate enough, there is ample controversy over the several proposals to link it to other Indo-European terms. Eristic was first recorded in English in the 1630s.
EXAMPLE OF ERISTIC USED IN A SENTENCE
By claiming that he disliked last year鈥檚 widely beloved Best Picture winner, the film critic brought an eristic perspective to the conversation.
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.