neoteric | Word of the Day

January 02, 2019 neoteric [nee-uh-ter-ik] adjective 1. modern; new; recent. noun 1. a new or modern writer, thinker, etc. video We Asked People To Translate These Emojis Into English video When You Should Not Say Sorry WORD OF THE DAY neoteric continued... QUOTES ... they call me a singular, a pedant, fantastic, words of reproach in this age, which is all too neoteric and light for my humour. -- Charles Lamb, "Fragments from Burton," John Woodvil, 1802 ORIGIN English neoteric comes straight from Late Latin neōtericus, straight from Hellenistic Greek neōterikós "young, youthful, modern (in style)." The Greek root is neo- "new" (newo- in some dialects), akin to Latin novus "new" (from newos), Germanic (English) new, and Slavic (Polish) nowy. The Proto-Indo-European suffix -ter- has several functions, one of them showing naturally occurring pairs, e.g., older and younger (as here), right and left, upper and lower. The Latin suffix -icus is of Proto-Indo-European origin, the same source as Greek -ikós, and Germanic -ig- (German -ig, English -y). The most famous of the Greek neōterikói was the poet and critic Callimachus (c310-c240 b.c.); the most famous Latin neōtericus (and the only one whose works has survived) was Catullus (c84-c54 b.c.). Neoteric entered English in the 16th century. MORE FOR YOU 1 Idioms Used Incorrectly In Famous Situations When idioms are misused, quite a bit can be lost in translation, leaving the audience scratching their heads (we've done a slideshow on that too!). A gaffe between friends is one thing, but what about when the whole world is listening? Pretty embarrassing ... or learning moment? Either way, here are 10 times idioms were used incorrectly in famous situations. 2 This Week's Quiz Is Not For Grumphies Anthropophagy got you down? Then take a bite out of this week's Word of the Day Quiz. 3 The Social Justice Dictionary You Didn't Know You Needed The language we use to describe social justice changes just as quickly as our advancements do, and it can be hard to keep up. So, we've collected some of the terms and phrases that make up social justice, which is itself a catch-all phrase for movements that work toward greater equality. 4 Dopesters Can't Stop Talking About This Week's Quiz Do you enjoy marshmallows with your rococo? Quaff this week's Word of the Day Quiz. 5 Take This Week's Quiz, You Filthy Dirigible Up late barnstorming? Take a load off with this week's Word of the Day Quiz. © 2018 Dictionary.com, LLC. ABOUT CONTACT