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Word Of The Day
lingua franca
A region usually adopts a lingua franca, or common language, when its inhabitants speak many different languages or dialects.
When people hear the term lingua franca, they often think of English. Although there are millions of people worldwide who don’t speak English, it has still become the lingua franca of many regions and areas of communication. One example is aviation — for airline pilots around the world, English is the lingua franca. The term means «Frankish tongue» in Italian, a reference to the original, 11th-century lingua franca, a mixture of Italian, French, Turkish, and other Mediterranean languages.
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Commonly Confused Words
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allusion / illusion / delusion
Novelists, magicians, and other tricksters keep these words busy. Novelists love an allusion, an indirect reference to something like a secret treasure for the reader to find; magicians heart illusions, or fanciful fake-outs; but tricksters suffer from delusions, ideas that have no basis in reality.
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predominate / predominant
If you win an election by a 3:1 margin, are you the predominant winner or the predominate winner?
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discreet / discrete
Discreet means on the down low, under the radar, careful, but discrete means individual or detached. They come from the same ultimate source, the Latin discrētus, for separated or distinct, but discreet has taken its own advice and quietly gone its separate way.
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Word of the Day
headquarters
UK
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/ˌhedˈkwɔː.təz/
US
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/ˈhedˌkwɔːr.t̬ɚz/
the main offices of an organization such as the army, the police, or a business company
About this
as·ter·isk
(ăs′tə-rĭsk′)
n.
1. A star-shaped figure (*) used chiefly to indicate an omission, a reference to a footnote, or an unattested word, sound, or affix.
2. Mathematics A symbol used to indicate multiplication, as in 2 * 3 = 6.
tr.v. as·ter·isked, as·ter·isk·ing, as·ter·isks
To mark with an asterisk.
[Middle English, from Late Latin asteriscus, from Greek asteriskos, diminutive of astēr, star; see ster- in Indo-European roots.]
Usage Note: The phonological phenomenon of metathesis involves the transposition of sounds or syllables in a word. Metathesis is responsible for the common rendering of ask as aks or ax. (This issue is discussed comprehensively at ax.) Similarly, one sometimes hears asterisk pronounced with the «sk» transposed to produce a (ks) sound, as though the word were spelled asterix or astericks. Then, perhaps because this symbol is often written as one of a series (as ***, for example), some people apparently infer that astericks is the plural of a singular asterick, pronounced with just a final (k) sound. In 2014, the Usage Panel overwhelmingly preferred the traditional pronunciation for asterisk, although 24 percent found the asterix pronunciation acceptable and 19 percent found asterick acceptable. A mere 7 percent personally preferred the asterix pronunciation, and only 6 percent preferred the asterick one. See Usage Note at ax2.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
asterisk
(ˈæstərɪsk)
n
1. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) a star-shaped character (*) used in printing or writing to indicate a cross-reference to a footnote, an omission, etc
2. (Linguistics)
a. (in historical linguistics) this sign used to indicate an unattested reconstructed form
b. (in descriptive linguistics) this sign used to indicate that an expression is ungrammatical or in some other way unacceptable
vb
(Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) (tr) to mark with an asterisk
[C17: from Late Latin asteriscus a small star, from Greek asteriskos, from astēr star]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
as•ter•isk
(ˈæs tə rɪsk)
n.
1. a small starlike symbol (*), used in writing and printing as a reference mark or to indicate omission, doubtful matter, etc.
2. this symbol used in linguistics to mark an ungrammatical or otherwise unacceptable utterance.
v.t.
3. to mark with an asterisk.
[1350–1400; Middle English < Latin asteriscus < Greek asterískos, diminutive of astḗr star]
pron: While the final syllable of asterisk is usu. pronounced (-rɪsk) with the (s) preceding the (k), a metathesized pronunciation of the word, in which the (s) and (k) change places to produce (ˈæs tə rɪks) is also heard. This pronunciation is sometimes falsely analyzed as a plural, with a corresponding singular (ˈæs tə rɪk) Both (ˈæs tə rɪks) and (ˈæs tə rɪk) although occasionally heard among educated speakers, are considered nonstandard pronunciations.
Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
asterisk
Past participle: asterisked
Gerund: asterisking
| Imperative |
|---|
| asterisk |
| asterisk |
| Present |
|---|
| I asterisk |
| you asterisk |
| he/she/it asterisks |
| we asterisk |
| you asterisk |
| they asterisk |
| Preterite |
|---|
| I asterisked |
| you asterisked |
| he/she/it asterisked |
| we asterisked |
| you asterisked |
| they asterisked |
| Present Continuous |
|---|
| I am asterisking |
| you are asterisking |
| he/she/it is asterisking |
| we are asterisking |
| you are asterisking |
| they are asterisking |
| Present Perfect |
|---|
| I have asterisked |
| you have asterisked |
| he/she/it has asterisked |
| we have asterisked |
| you have asterisked |
| they have asterisked |
| Past Continuous |
|---|
| I was asterisking |
| you were asterisking |
| he/she/it was asterisking |
| we were asterisking |
| you were asterisking |
| they were asterisking |
| Past Perfect |
|---|
| I had asterisked |
| you had asterisked |
| he/she/it had asterisked |
| we had asterisked |
| you had asterisked |
| they had asterisked |
| Future |
|---|
| I will asterisk |
| you will asterisk |
| he/she/it will asterisk |
| we will asterisk |
| you will asterisk |
| they will asterisk |
| Future Perfect |
|---|
| I will have asterisked |
| you will have asterisked |
| he/she/it will have asterisked |
| we will have asterisked |
| you will have asterisked |
| they will have asterisked |
| Future Continuous |
|---|
| I will be asterisking |
| you will be asterisking |
| he/she/it will be asterisking |
| we will be asterisking |
| you will be asterisking |
| they will be asterisking |
| Present Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I have been asterisking |
| you have been asterisking |
| he/she/it has been asterisking |
| we have been asterisking |
| you have been asterisking |
| they have been asterisking |
| Future Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I will have been asterisking |
| you will have been asterisking |
| he/she/it will have been asterisking |
| we will have been asterisking |
| you will have been asterisking |
| they will have been asterisking |
| Past Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I had been asterisking |
| you had been asterisking |
| he/she/it had been asterisking |
| we had been asterisking |
| you had been asterisking |
| they had been asterisking |
| Conditional |
|---|
| I would asterisk |
| you would asterisk |
| he/she/it would asterisk |
| we would asterisk |
| you would asterisk |
| they would asterisk |
| Past Conditional |
|---|
| I would have asterisked |
| you would have asterisked |
| he/she/it would have asterisked |
| we would have asterisked |
| you would have asterisked |
| they would have asterisked |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011