Fortean is an adjective that means related to paranormal phenomena.

Our word of the day comes from a writer an early 20th century writer and researcher named Charles Fort whose chief interest was the paranormal. By the 1970s, his name became a word to describe anything related to such phenomena. Here’s an example:

At first, I thought that weird disappearance of my phone was explained by some Fortean forces lurking about in our new home. But I soon realized the disappearance had nothing to do with the paranormal and instead happened because I left my phone at work.

Quell is a verb that means to put an end to something.

Our word of the day comes from the Old English word cwellan (KWELL an) which means ‘to kill.’ Its linguistic offspring quell was absorbed into English in the 13th century with a less lethal definition. It simply means to stop or end something.

When I heard that racket coming from the living room, my immediate impulse was to scream for somebody to quell it. I soon realized I was demanding that people turn off the latest album by my favorite band.

Copernican is an adjective that means very important or paradigm-shifting.

Nicolas Copernicus was a 15th century astronomer who first observed that the planets revolved around the sun. Because this discovery was so significant, we use the word Copernican to describe highly important discoveries or innovations. For example:

My great grandfather made key discoveries about marine animals off the coast of Africa. Those discoveries aren’t talked about a great deal among the general public, but for those in his field, they were Copernican. They truly changed everything about what we know about marine animals.

Cantrip is a noun that refers to a trick or a mischievous act.

The origin of our word of the day is unknown, but we do know it entered English in the late 16th century from Scottish. Here’s an example if its use:

When I saw a fresh plate of blueberry muffins on the breakfast table, I should have known it was a cantrip played by my son. Only a mind as mischievous of his could have tricked me into mistaking raw batter for blueberry muffins.

Ovoid is an adjective that means egg-shaped. It is also a noun that refers to an egg-shaped body object..

Entering English in the 19th century, ovoid comes from the Latin word ovum (OH voom) which means ‘egg.’ Here’s an example of ovoid used as an adjective:

Sometimes extreme hunger can impair your thinking. The other day I was so hungry that when I spotted an ovoid container on the kitchen counter, I tried to crack it over a pan so I could scramble it.

Talisman is a noun that refers to a person regarded as representing and inspiring a particular group.

The Greek word ‘telos’ means ‘result’ or ‘end.’ This word drifted into English by the mid 17th century and soon came to refer to a man who helps complete a process. Today talisman is most likely to be used metaphorically to mean someone who inspires a group.

In the school marching band, Devon was the talisman of the trumpet section. He inspired us all to practice a lot harder because we aspired to play just like him.

Kibosh is a verb that means to decisively end something.

The origin of our word of the day is unknown, but its use is pretty clear. It’s used in an informal context to mean ‘put an end to.” Example:

Having a pet bird in our bedroom seemed like a good idea at the time, but a few sleepless nights of loud chirping kiboshed that idea.

Behest is a noun that refers to an authoritative order.

Coming from Old English, our word of the day is related to the German word for ‘command.’ Here’s an example:

At the behest of our bank manager, we worked a few extra late hours this week. I’m no big fan of working extra hours, but when your boss makes an authoritative order, you follow it.

Apposite is an adjective that means apt for a given setting.

Our word of the day comes from the Latin word appositus (OPP oh SEE toose) which means ‘applied toward.’ It entered English in the late 16th century. It’s best understood as a synonym of ‘germane’ or ‘relevant.’ Here’s an example of apposite in use:

Maybe it’s me, but I didn’t think my name was an apposite one to mention  when talking about people using parking spaces that don’t belong to them. Sure, I made a few mistakes in parking in the past but was it really relevant to bring those mistakes up in a staff meeting?

Crural is an adjective that means related to the leg.

Our word of the day comes from the Latin word crus (CROOSE) which means ‘leg.’ Entering English in the late 16th century, it has come to be used mostly within formal medical or anatomical contexts. But it may occasionally be used to describe animals. Here’s an example:

After years of study, we determined that the crural capacity of those spiders was greater than we thought. We were truly stunned by how much power was in those long, slender legs.