Word Of The Day

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I may not have a new word everyday where some days I may have several... Some words may not be in the English language.

First word of the day is: Ecumenical

Definition of ECUMENICAL
1: worldwide or general in extent, influence, or application
2:a: of, relating to, or representing the whole of a body of churches
2:b: promoting or tending toward worldwide Christian unity or cooperation

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ecumenical

Comment: Perhaps this word ecumenical has its roots in the ancient Greek word ecclesia which in the Bible is translated both "church" or "mob" having a generic meaning. Not all people in an ecclesia are Christian... The Bible refers to the men on a Roman ship carrying Paul to Rome as an ecclesia where these men on the ship were mostly pagan Romans. Also an angry mob consisting of people of many faiths is called an ecclesia. But today ecclesia is errantly but most generally used to mean Church. As ecumenical can also have a wide usage it is generally reserved for describing a religious church body of believers and their statutes.

Webster's Dictionary lists the word Ecumenical as coming from the root word Oikonomia where from my teaching it is similar to the word ecclesia but with Oikonomia having an emphasis on the church and its various dispensations and ages.... Where ecclesia generically means simply a group of people "called out" to congregate for any of many various possible reasons. Thus it is reasonable to assume the the modern word Ecumenical has no real relation to its ancient root derivatives. But Ecumenical has been re-fashioned to fit a more modern precise usage.

Got a nifty word please share it here. All are welcome to post here. Thanks in advance peeps! Calling all wordy and the verbose! If you disagree with a posted meaning of any word or words please expound with your own definition. Let's have fun with this. If someone else has a word of the day thread here I don't mean to step on anyone's toes. There are enough words to go around, we can share the human language I hope. Though this has started off with a religious word all words are welcome. I suspect most of the words I plan to post here will be secular. Smile

On any given day several words can be posted here so don't hang on to them, the post them as soon as you think of them. Big thanks!

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@RexRed,

belabor
v. to explain, worry about, or work more than is necessary.

(As in: Let us not belabor the obvious.))

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Sarcle: To weed, or clear of weeds, with a hoe.

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Thanks for the awesome words peeps! Keep 'em coming! Smile

Eclectic
ec·lec·tic /iˈklektik/
Adjective:
Deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.
Noun:
A person who derives ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.

Comment: Notice we have another word, "eclectic" with the word "church" in it (Ecclesia). Yet it seems this eclectic (age) church or group is more varied, progressive and open minded than the ecumenical church which has a much more narrow frame of reference (generally solely the bible).

Because the ecumenical are not necessarily eclectic it makes even their interpretation of the Bible, suspect.

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Kerfuffle

kerfuffle , carfuffle or kurfuffle (kəˈfʌf ə l)

— n
1. informal chiefly ( Brit ) commotion; disorder; agitation

— vb
2. ( Scot ) ( tr ) to put into disorder or disarray; ruffle or disarrange

[from Scottish curfuffle, carfuffle, from Scottish Gaelic car twist, turn + fuffle to disarrange]

carfuffle , carfuffle or kurfuffle

(Thanks to Rachel Maddow for this one. )

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Just popped in my head, here ya go. (beleaguering)

be·lea·guer (b-lgr)
tr.v. be·lea·guered, be·lea·guer·ing, be·lea·guers
1. To harass; beset: We are beleaguered by problems.
2. To surround with troops; besiege. See Synonyms at besiege.
[Probably Dutch belegeren : be-, around (from Middle Dutch bie; see ambhi in Indo-European roots) + leger, camp; see legh- in Indo-European roots.]
be·leaguer·ment n.

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@RexRed,

cumulus \KYOO-myuh-luhs\, noun:
1. A heap; pile.
2. A cloud of a class characterized by dense individual elements in the form of puffs, mounds, or towers, with flat bases and tops that often resemble cauliflower.
He was organizing the year's remnants. He was logging and archiving and filing it all. The whole swollen yearlong cumulus.
-- Dana Spiotta, Stone Arabia

"So where is it at, Minogue," asks the palatal man, aloft in a cumulus of webs and dust and creak.
-- David Foster Wallace, Girl with Curious Hair

[The boldfaced part is how we most frequently use the word.]

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Thanks for the puffy white clouds Lustig.

con·fla·gra·tion (knfl-grshn)
n.
A large destructive fire.
[Latin cnflagrti, cnflagrtin-, from cnflagrtus, past participle of cnflagrre, to burn up; see conflagrant.]

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polymorphism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymorphism_in_object-oriented_programming

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@RexRed,

chrestomathy
n. a collection of selected literary passages.

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Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

(Fear of long words)

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Colloquial

Definition of colloquial: Colloquial language is casual and conversational: it's the difference between "What are you going to do?" and "Whatchagonnado?"

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/colloquial

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Aplomb

noun \ə-ˈpläm, -ˈpləm\ : complete and confident composure or self-assurance : poise

He showed great aplomb in dealing with the reporters.

You've handled a difficult situation with perfect aplomb.

In “The Most Famous Man in America,” Applegate, a Ph.D. in American studies from Yale, tells this grand story with aplomb, intelligence and a sure feel for historical context. —Michael Kazin, New York Times Book Review, 16 July 2006

Origin of APLOMB

French, literally, perpendicularity, from Middle French, from a plomb, literally, according to the plummet

First Known Use: 1823

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aplomb

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ar·che·type [ahr-ki-tahyp]
noun
1.
the original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype.
2.
(in Jungian psychology) a collectively inherited unconscious idea, pattern of thought, image, etc., universally present in individual psyches.

Origin:
1595–1605; < Latin archetypum an original < Greek archétypon a model, pattern (neuter of archétypos of the first mold, equivalent to arche- arche- + týp ( os ) mold, type + -os adj. suffix)

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/archetype

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@RexRed,

demiurge \DEM-ee-urj\, noun:
1. Philosophy. A. Platonism. The artificer of the world. B. (In the Gnostic and certain other systems) a supernatural being imagined as creating or fashioning the world in subordination to the Supreme Being, and sometimes regarded as the originator of evil.
2. (In many states of ancient Greece) a public official or magistrate.

Larger than a character, the river is a manifest presence, a demiurge to support the man and the boy, a deity to betray them, feed them, all but drown them, fling them apart, float them back together.
-- Norman Mailer, The Spooky Art

The gnostics think this world was created by a bad god—a demiurge—who wandered too far from the True God and somehow got perverted.
-- Derek Swannson, Crash Gordon and the Mysteries of Kingsburg

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Serendipity

Definition of SERENDIPITY

: the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for; also : an instance of this
See serendipity defined for English-language learners »
See serendipity defined for kids »
Examples of SERENDIPITY

They found each other by pure serendipity.
As they leapfrog from South Africa to Singapore in search of local delicacies, the authors prove again and again that serendipity is the traveler's strongest ally: many of their most memorable meals issue from the hands of generous strangers … —Sarah Karnasiewicz, Saveur, June/July 2008
[+]more
Origin of SERENDIPITY

from its possession by the heroes of the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip
First Known Use: 1754

Comment: Making sense out of chaos.
Thanks for the word Lustig!

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I couldn't think of a word, then suddenly it hit me! Smile

Epiphany

e·piph·a·ny [ih-pif-uh-nee]
noun, plural e·piph·a·nies.
1.
( initial capital letter ) a Christian festival, observed on January 6, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles in the persons of the Magi; Twelfth-day.
2.
an appearance or manifestation, especially of a deity.
3.
a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.
4.
a literary work or section of a work presenting, usually symbolically, such a moment of revelation and insight.

Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English epiphanie < Late Latin epiphanīa < Late Greek epipháneia, Greek: apparition, equivalent to epi- epi- + phan- (stem of phaínein to appear) + -eia -y3

Related forms
ep·i·phan·ic [ep-uh-fan-ik] Show IPA, e·piph·a·nous, adjective

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/epiphany?s=t

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glad-warbling: Singing or walking joyfully

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@RexRed,

ingeminate \in-JEM-uh-neyt\, verb:
To repeat; reiterate.

Sitting among his friends, often, after a deep silence and frequent sighs, he would with a shrill and sad accent ingeminate the word Peace, Peace...
-- Christopher Ricks, Essays in Appreciation

Mr. Dott's spirits were a little dashed, especially as Niven with a fateful countenance continued to ingeminate the word “Hungrygrain.”
-- Arthur Train, Tutt and Mr. Tutt

Ingeminate comes from the Latin word ingemināre which meant "to repeat or redouble."

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Let me engeminate what I've already said: this thread is a real serendipity and could lead to one or more epiphanies. Laughing

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