Scapegrace is a noun that means a mischievous young person. 

Our word of the day is a good old portmanteau, a word that is formed by combining two different terms. In this case ‘escape’ and ‘grace’ come together to refer to a person who has escaped the grace of God. But don’t be intimidated that daunting definition. The word often refers simply to a mischievous little brat. 

I can’t believe what a fine young man Brian as grown up to be. I always suspected that little scapegrace would grow up to lead a life of crime.

Otic is an adjective that means related to the ear. 

The Greek word for ear is aufti (off TEE) which gave birth to our word of the day. 

Once again, otic is spelled O-T-I-C. It’s usually used in a medical context as opposed to a word like aural that may refer to hearing. The doctor was initially reluctant to perform surgery on my ear. He was afraid that all that otic fluid would be a problem. 

Opprobrium is a noun that means public disgrace.

Our word of the day comes directly from Latin. It combines the prefix ‘O-B,’ meaning ‘against’ with probrum (PRO broom) which means ‘disgraceful act.’ 

Public officials who get caught taking bribes get no symphony from me. I say let them spend the rest of their careers in opprobrium. 

Nettlesome is an adjective that means irritable or difficult. 

A plant called the nettle has jagged leaves covered with stinging hairs. And this irritable plant naturally gave birth to our word of the day which means irritable. The old meaning of nettlesome was ‘to beat or sting someone with nettles,’ but more recently the word is used in a figurative sense, such as: Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the fact that my nephew has a curious mind. But his endless questions can be nettlesome after a while. 

Nascent is an adjective that means just coming into existence. 

In Latin, the word Nasci (NAAH shee) means to be born. This, of course, was the birthplace of our word of the day. In chemistry the word nascent means ‘freshly generated.’ But in everyday use, it usually refers to something new that has signs of potential. 

Years ago our company invested in the nascent video game industry. The industry was new, but we were confident in its potential. 

Fecund is an adjective that means highly fertile. 

Our word of the day comes from the Latin word for fertile, fecudus (fee KOON doos). Fecund may be used in a medical sense to refer to a pregnant woman, in a botanical sense, to refer to a fecund garden, or, in a figurative sense, as in: Kelly’s fecund mind ever ceases to astonish me. We never know what kind of creative idea she’ll come up with next.

Labile is an adjective that means easily altered or unstable.

Labile originates from the Latin word labi (LAH bee) which means ‘fall’ or ‘slip.’ This is why in chemistry our word of the day is often used to mean ‘easily broken down’ or ‘displaced.’ In everyday use, labile may refer to a person’s health or their emotions, as in: It’s been a rough year for Randal. After all the ups and downs he’s experienced, his state of mind has become quite labile.

Accretion a noun that means the process of gradual growth. 

The Latin word for grow is accidere (ah CHEE dare ay), which, over time gradually grew into our word of the day. Accretion is often used to describe a natural process of growth that you may see in a lawn or a body of water. But it may also be used to describe something like a city’s growth. For example: the accretion of the downtown area has been interesting to watch over the years. In all my years as a city planner I’ve never seen such broad expansion.

Hibernal is an adjective that means pertaining to winter. 

The Latin word for winter is hibernum (HE burn um) which, over time, has evolved into words like hibernate and our word of the day hibernal, which refers to anything related to winter. 

As I kid I loved winter. My favorite things included such hibernal activities as skiing, sledding and making snow angels.

Librate is an adjective that means to poise or remained balanced. 

The Latin word for poise or balance is libramen (lee BRAHM en) where our word of the day comes from. It may be used in a scientific sense to refer, for example, to molecule holding in place by oscillating. Or it may be used in a more every day sense to simply mean ‘balance.’ 

It’s lovely to see those birds librate on the telephone wire. I’m amazed at their ability to stay in place without falling.