noun 1. a male given name: from a Hebrew word meaning “stone of help.”
Origin: Hebrew ebhen ha-?ezer stone of help; from the application of this name by Samuel to the stone which he set up in commemoration of God's help to the Israelites in their victory over the Philistines at Mizpah (1 Samuel 7:12)
rectitude [rek-ti-tood, -tyood] noun: 1 Morally correct behaviour or thinking; moral uprightness, righteousness. 2 The quality or condition of being correct in judgment. 3 The quality of being straight.
Examples:
As his assistant Ventura (Juan Minujín) starts behaving more like a rival and his landlord’s virtuous daughters sneak men into their bedrooms, Zama’s mask of rectitude slips and with it his grasp on reality. (Ty Burr, 'Zama' is Lucrecia Martel’s latest one-of-a-kind offering, Boston Globe, 2018)
Yet Portugal under António Costa has proved a model of fiscal rectitude, while making tough decisions to clean up the banking system. (Simon Nixon, Portuguese Lessons for Spain and Italy, The Wall Street Journal, 2019)
Her disappointment in Charlotte made her turn with fonder regard to her sister, of whose rectitude and delicacy she was sure her opinion could never be shaken, and for whose happiness she grew daily more anxious, as Bingley had now been gone a week and nothing more was heard of his return. (Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice)
What object have I, here and now, and everywhere and always, next to the rectitude of my own soul? (David Christie Murray, The Romance of Giovanni Calvotti)
Origin:
Rectitude has a righteous derivation. It comes straight from the Latin noun rectus, which means both 'right' and 'straight.' 'Rectitude' itself can mean either 'straightness' (an early use referred to literal straightness of lines, although this sense is now rare) or 'rightness' of character. 'Rectus' has a number of other descendants in English, including 'rectangle' (a figure with four right angles), 'rectify' ('to make right'), 'rectilinear' ('moving in or forming a straight line'), and even 'rectus' itself (a medical term for any one of several straight muscles in the body). (MerriamWebster)
early 15c, 'quality of being straight,' from Middle French rectitude (14c.), from Late Latin rectitudinem (nominative rectitudo) 'straightness, uprightness,' from Latin rectus 'straight' (from PIE root *reg- 'move in a straight line,' with derivatives meaning 'to direct in a straight line'). Sense of 'upright in conduct or character' is from 1530s. (Online Etymological Dictionary)
Obelus - the name for the division sign (÷) in mathematics. In print, an obelus (or obeli) is a dagger shape used to mark a passage of text. Obelus should not to be confused with obelisks or obols :-)
noun 1. gaiety or jollity, especially when accompanied by laughter: the excitement and mirth of the holiday season. 2. amusement or laughter: He was unable to conceal his mirth.
WORDS RELATED TO MIRTH laughter, levity, hilarity, rejoicing, gladness, gaiety, joviality, revelry, sport, cheerfulness, amusement, hysteria, jocundity, entertainment, glee, happiness, frolic, festivity, merrymaking, lightheartedness
OTHER WORDS FROM MIRTH mirth·less, adjective
Synonyms See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com 1, 2. Mirth, glee, hilarity, merriment, jollity, joviality refer to the gaiety characterizing people who are enjoying the companionship of others. Mirth suggests spontaneous amusement or gaiety, manifested briefly in laughter: uncontrolled outbursts of mirth. Glee suggests an effervescence of high spirits or exultation, often manifested in playful or ecstatic gestures; it may apply also to a malicious rejoicing over mishaps to others: glee over the failure of a rival. Hilarity implies noisy and boisterous mirth, often exceeding the limits of reason or propriety: hilarity aroused by practical jokes. Merriment suggests fun, good spirits, and good nature rather than the kind of wit and sometimes artificial funmaking that cause hilarity: The house resounded with music and sounds of merriment. Jollity and joviality may refer either to a general atmosphere of mirthful festivity or to the corresponding traits of individuals. Jollity implies an atmosphere of easy and convivial gaiety, a more hearty merriment or a less boisterous hilarity: The holiday was a time of jollity. Joviality implies a more mellow merriment generated by people who are hearty, generous, benevolent, and high-spirited: the joviality of warm-hearted friends.
Antonyms 1. gloom.
Origin: before 900; Middle English mirthe, Old English myrgth. See merry, -th
paradigm [par-uh-dahym, -dim ] noun: 1a A typical example or pattern of something; a pattern or model. 1b A world view underlying the theories and methodology of a particular scientific subject. 2 (Linguistics) A set of linguistic items that form mutually exclusive choices in particular syntactic roles.
Examples:
And the paradigm of a thing to be philosophical about is death. (Death: Bad?, The New York Times, 2009)
The paradigm employed uses eye movement recordings and comprehension measures to study picture-text interactions. (Mihai Nadin, The Civilization of Illiteracy)
What we intend by the use of the term general theory is similar to 'conceptual framework,' 'conceptual model,' or 'paradigm.' (Anne Boykin, Nursing as Caring)
Origin:
late 15c., from Late Latin paradigma 'pattern, example,' especially in grammar, from Greek paradeigma 'pattern, model; precedent, example,' from paradeiknynai 'exhibit, represent,' literally 'show side by side,' from para- 'beside' + deiknynai 'to show' (cognate with Latin dicere 'to show;' from PIE root deik- 'to show,' also 'pronounce solemnly'). (MerriamWebster)
Paradigm first appeared in English in the 1400s, meaning "an example or pattern," and it still bears this meaning today: 'Their company is a paradigm of the small high-tech firms that have recently sprung up in this area.' For nearly 400 years paradigm has also been applied to the patterns of inflections that are used to sort the verbs, nouns, and other parts of speech of a language into groups that are more easily studied. Since the 1960s, paradigm has also been used in science to refer to a theoretical framework, as in a new paradigm for understanding diabetes. (The Free Dictionary)
Mid 17th century; earliest use found in Thomas Blount (1618–1679), antiquary and lexicographer. From classical Latin altivolant-, altivolāns high-flying from alti- + volant-, volāns, present participle of volāre to fly.
Pronunciation altivolant /alˈtɪvələnt/
(found via The Grandiloquent Word of the Day desk calendar)
