Brumal is an adjective that means occurring in the winter.

The Latin word bruma means ‘winter.’ The word soon evolved into English and came to mean anything associated with winter.

When it gets cold outside, I tend to go into immediate hibernation. My idea of a brumal activity is watching old movies while all my friends go skiing or ice skating.

Cryptonym is a noun that refers to a secret name.

Our word of the day combines the prefix C-R-Y-P-T-O, meaning ‘secret’ with the Greek suffix O-N-Y-M which means ‘name.’ A cryptonym is something a spy might have or anyone else who may engage in secret behaviour.

I was embarrassed to be writing a biography of a teen singer, so I used a cryptonym. There was no way I’d put my own name in such a silly book.

Eristic is a noun that refers to someone who engages in arguments or disputes. It can also be used as an adjective that describes anything involving an argument or dispute.

The Greek word eristikos (air EES tee kose) means ‘fond of wrangling.’ And so it may be helpful to think of an eristic person as someone who is fond of arguing.

I’m not usually an eristic person, but when I hear people spouting statistics that don’t add up, I tend to dive right into arguments.

Nonesuch is a noun that refers to a person or thing without equal.

Our word of the day’s origin is in Middle English and it basically means ‘no such person or things.’ You could think of a nonesuch as an ideal, a model of a particular thing’s perfection that does not actually exist.

Tammy is the nonesuch of gymnasts. Her style and execution are unlike any I’ve witnessed. I’ve never seen anybody come that close to perfection.

Travail is a noun that refers to agonizing work.

Our word of the day originates from the Latin word trepalium (tray POL ee oom) which was a name of a device used for torture. As this word evolved into travail, it soon came to refer to any kind of torture.

Putting the play together required a great deal of patience on everyone’s part. There were many travails to endure before we found success.

Tangential is an adjective that means digressive.

The Latin word tangere (tan JAIR ay) means ‘to touch.’ A tangent is a straight line that touches a curve at a single point. It could be said that a tangential speech touches on points in a different sense.

Rob really needs to stop being so digressive in his morning speeches. By the time he’s finished touching on everything he needs to say, the day is half over.

Indite is a verb that means to make up or compose.

The Latin word indicere (in dee CHAIR ay) means ‘to formally or publicly announce. Announcing something is a lot like documenting it the same way a person would be documenting a story, but composing or creating it.

Cheri has an amazingly fertile imagination. I’m amazed by her ability to indite a captivating tale out of thin air.

Cavalcade is a noun that refers to a series.

The Greek word kaballeion (caab ah LAY on) means ‘horse.’ As this word migrated toward English and into our word of the day, it came to refer to ‘a horseback ride.’ It later meant an army of people on horseback and more recently it has been used figuratively to refer to any series or procession of things — usually a dramatic or extreme series. For example: I can’t believe the cavalcade of disasters that came our way during the filming of our movie. It was just one catastrophe after another.

Agita is a noun that refers to stress or aggravation.

The Italian word acido (ACH ee doe) means ‘acid’ when referring to an irritant in a person’s stomach. Its English equivalent, Agita, may refer to the same thing, but the word can be used more broadly to refer to any source of agitation or stress — medical or otherwise.

I was pretty stressed out after my first week of college. Not only did I have lots of homework, but my dorm mate was a real jerk. It’s hard to say which caused more agita in my life. Jimmy or economics 101.

Dragoon is a verb that means to coerce into something.

The similarity of our word of the day with the word ‘dragon’ is no coincidence. Dragoon is French for Dragon and was originally named for the giant muskets used by cavalry soldiers. Those muskets shot what must have seemed like fire to many people — kind of like a dragon. In time, the word came to mean any attempt at forcing someone into something as a soldier at war might.

Kristy had to dragoon me into taking a trip to the amusement park and I’m glad she did. That gigantic roller coaster wasn’t something I would usually do on my own, but it was great fun.