Dauntlessness

 

vivify \VIV-uh-fy\, transitive verb:

1. To endue with life; to make alive; to animate.

2. To make more lively or intense.

 

Vivify comes from French vivifier, from Late Latin vivificare, from Latin vivus, alive.

 

 

Can the writer isolate and vivify all in experience that most deeply engages our intellects and our hearts? -- Annie Dillard, "Write Till You Drop", New York Times, May 28, 1989

soporific / sop-uh-rih-fik
adjective, noun
1. causing or tending to cause sleep.
2. pertaining to or characterized by sleep or sleepiness; sleepy; drowsy.
3. something that causes sleep, as a medicine or drug.

Example: Her doctor prescribed a soporific to help her sleep better.

Origin: 1690, from Fr. soporifique (1687), formed in Fr. from L. sopor (gen. soporis) "deep sleep."

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

po·ta·tion [ pō táysh'n ] (plural po·ta·tions)
noun
Definition:
1. drinking: the act or an instance of drinking
2. alcoholic drink: a drink, especially an alcoholic drink

[15th century. Directly or via French< Latin potation-< potare "to drink" (see potion)]

Encarta® World English Dictionary [North American Edition] © & (P)2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

Example:
Bob sashayed up to the bar and addressed the barkeep, "Pardon me, proprietor, please prepare me a particularly powerful potation; I'm parched. Pal, perchance you would partake; I will provide prerequisite pecuniary particulars?"
Bob gets thrown out of more bars than anyone he knows; he really doesn't mean to spit at the bartenders.

 

inveigle \in-VAY-guhl; -VEE-\, transitive verb:
1. To persuade by ingenuity or flattery; to entice.
2. To obtain by ingenuity or flattery.

 

 

Inveigle comes from Anglo-French enveogler, from Old French aveugler, "to blind, to lead astray as if blind," from aveugle, "blind," from Medieval Latin ab oculis, "without eyes."

 

Deep Blue had tried to inveigle Kasparov into grabbing several pawn offers, but the champion was not fooled. -- Robert Byrne, "Kasparov and Computer Play to a Draw", New York Times, February 14, 1996

 

Here is Sunday's word -- I tried to post it yesterday, but it didn't work due to some access restrictions. But those have been cleared up, so here we go! Sorry for the lateness/confusion.

trenchant / tren-chuhnt
adjective
1. incisive or keen, as language or a person; caustic; cutting: trenchant wit.
2. vigorous; effective; energetic: a trenchant policy of political reform.
3. clearly or sharply defined; clear-cut; distinct.

Example: The teacher's trenchant criticism discouraged all but the most thick-skinned of his students.

Origin: 1275–1325; ME tranchaunt < AF; OF trenchant, prp. of trenchier to cut.

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

redound [ri-dound]

to have a good or bad effect or result, as to the advantage or disadvantage of a person or thing.
to result or accrue, as to a person.
to come back or reflect upon a person as to honor or disgrace (usually followed by on or upon).
To have an effect or consequence: deeds that redound to one's discredit.
To return; recoil: Glory redounds upon the brave.
To contribute; accrue

Origin: 1350–1400; Middle English redounden, to flow abundantly, from Old French redonder, from Latin redundāre, to overflow; see redundant

"The kind of acting you get to do on TV is influenced by American movies, so your instinct is to break it up and naturalise it. But you have to deliver it with elan and conviction; you have to obey the rules and then it frees itself up."

...read that today and didn't recognize the word, thought it was neat, I learned something!

élan
ey-lahn, ey-lan; Fr. ey-lahn
–noun
dash; impetuous ardor: to dance with great élan
Enthusiastic vigor and liveliness.
Distinctive style or flair.
[Origin: 1875–80; F, MF eslan a dash, rush, n. deriv. of eslancer to dart: es-</i>, out + lancer, to throw (from Late Latin lanceāre, to throw a lance, from Latin lancea, lance)]

asperityThe cause of her anger did not warrant such asperity.</i>
2. hardship; difficulty; rigor: the asperities of polar weather.
3. roughness of surface; unevenness.
4. something rough or harsh.

c.1230, asprete "harshness of feelings," a fig. use, from O.Fr. asperete, from L. asperitas "roughness," from asper "rough," of unknown origin.

(i totally fucked that up when i first posted this,sorry)

aplomb

[F à plomb according to the plummet, i.e., straight up and down, vertical position]

1. imperturbable self-possession, poise, or assurance.
2. the perpendicular, or vertical, position.
composure, equanimity, imperturbability.

"He was the guy you could send to any story, at any time and he handled it capably, calmly, credibly and with total aplomb"

Popinjay
pop.in.jay (pop-in-jey)
noun
1. a person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter; coxcomb; fop.
2. British Dialect. a woodpecker, esp. the green woodpecker.
3. Archaic. the figure of a parrot usually fixed on a pole and used as a target in archery and gun shooting.
4. Archaic. a parrot.

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[Origin: 1275–1325; ME papejay, popingay, papinjai(e) < MF papegai, papingay parrot < Sp papagayo < Ar bab(ba)gha']

"popinjay." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 01 Feb. 2008. Dictionary.com

Example: The crowd at the new, fancy, goth club was a flock of colorless popinjays, preened in black leather and shiny vinyl; they droned on incessantly about the meaninglessness of their existence. That moment, I couldn't agree with them more.

I think I am having far too much fun coming up with these examples!

bivouac \BIV-wak, BIV-uh-wak\, noun
1. An encampment for the night, usually under little or no shelter.

intransitive verb
1. To encamp for the night, usually under little or no shelter.

Bivouac comes from French bivouac, from German Beiwache, "watching, guarding," from bei, "near" and wachen, "to watch."

Due to gale-force winds the group was forced to bivouac in a cave lest they fall off the mountainside.

raiment
c.1440, shortening of arayment "clothing," from Anglo-Fr. araiement, from O.Fr. areement, from areer "to array"

Clothing; garments. especially fine or decorative clothing

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=raiment

I apologize for not doing the past two Sundays. I've been on vacation for the last two weeks and haven't had a computer with internet access.

couture noun \kü-tur, -tuer\
1 : the business of designing, making, and selling fashionable custom-made women's clothing
2 : the designers and establishments engaged in couture
3 : the clothes created by couture

From French and Latin: Old French word, cousture, which means sewing, and Latin verb consuere, which means to sew together

"Couture can be quite a lucrative business," she suggested, "especially here in Hollywood."