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What is the origin of quadrivial?
In quadrivial, the quadri- element is a form of Latin quattuor, “four,” while -vial comes from Latin via, “way.” Quattuor is the source of French quatre, Italian quattro, Portuguese quatro, Romanian patru, and Spanish cuatro, all meaning “four.” Meanwhile, via is the source of trivial and viaduct as well as convey and voyage. Quadrivial was first recorded in English around the turn of the 15th century.
EXAMPLE OF QUADRIVIAL USED IN A SENTENCE
The complicated quadrivial intersection had caused so many traffic accidents that the city eventually closed it off to cars entirely.
adjective
lak-uh-DAY-zih-kul
What It Means
Something or someone described as lackadaisical is lacking in life, spirit, or zest.
// His teachers did not approve of his lackadaisical approach to homework.
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lackadaisical in Context
«A song like the lackadaisical ‘Funny in Dreams’ could scan as too facile—who’d have thought that strange things happen in our dreams!—but she [folk singer, Nicole Rodriguez] deftly uses it as an opportunity for vivid introspection.» — Rachel Saywitz, Pitchfork, 10 Feb. 2023
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Did You Know?
We’re too enthusiastic about the lexicon to be lackadaisical about words, but lackadaisical itself is rooted in the sort of sorrow that can put a damper on one’s passion for vocabulary expansion. When folks living from the late 17th to the late 19th century had one of those days when nothing goes right, they could cry «Lackaday!» to express their sorrow and disappointment as a shortened form of the expression «alack the day.» (Alack is an interjection used to express sorrow or regret.) By the mid-1700s, the adjective lackadaisical had been formed to describe these miserable ones and their doings and sayings. Around the same time, the word lackadaisy was introduced to the language as an interjection similar to lackaday; it was never as prevalent as lackaday, but it may have influenced the development of lackadaisical.
Name That Antonym
Fill in the blanks to complete an antonym of lackadaisical: e _ t _ r _ r _ s _ n _.
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
Not to be confused with «climb», a clime is a region known for its weather. In the dead of winter, we dream about heading to sunny climes, where we can hang out in shorts.
The key to remembering clime is that it’s so similar to «climate,» with which it shares the Greek root klima, «zone.» So a clime is a zone that has a characteristic climate. Folks in colder climes think nothing of the kind of snowfall that we down here in the south get all panicked about. But then again, when they come here to our warmer clime, they forget to put on sunscreen; people from one clime can learn a lot from a visit to a different clime.
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April 14, 2023
cubicle
/kjuːbɪkəl/
noun
cubicle
/kjuːbɪkəl/
noun
plural cubicles
Two office workers in a cubicle
Definition of CUBICLE
[count]
1 chiefly US : a work space in a large office, with a desk that is surrounded by low walls
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an office cubicle
2 British : a small space in a public room (such as a bathroom) that has walls for privacy
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a shower/toilet cubicle [=(US) stall]
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