Construal is a noun that means interpretation.

Our word of the day comes from the Latin word construere (con stru WHERE ay) meaning, ‘to build.’ When we construe something we care analyzing how it is built. This also applies to the way a sentence or phrase is built.

After the mayor’s speech, he was immediately worried about the construal of his words, and for good reason. The way those words were interpreted would later come back to haunt him.

Ideation is a noun that refers to the formation of ideas or concepts.

The word idea comes directly from Greek, meaning ‘to see.’ Our word of the day is derived from this and means to ‘form or create’ ideas.

I was often stunned by the creative power of those in the marketing department. They were amazingly good at the ideation of mind-blowing concepts.

Suffuse is a verb that means to pour or spread through.

The latin word suffus (SUE foos) means ‘poured into.’ When we suffuse something, we spread or pour it in. The word can be used literally or metaphorically. Here’s an example:

Our hope was to suffuse the audience with the joy of our music. But we would have probably needed better music to accomplish that goal.

Macaronic is an adjective that means composed of a mixture of languages.

Our word of the day is related to the word macaroni, the Italian dish that combines various foods.  In a similar way, a macaronic use of language combines many languages.

Our limited understanding of Portuguese caused our band to write many macaronic songs that combined English with Portuguese for our Brazilian audience.

Subsidiary is an adjective that means less important to but related to.

The Latin word subsidere means ‘to sit below.’ When something is deemed subsidiary, it is regarded as less important that other things. Check out this example:

With winter approaching, I needed some hot cocoa as well as brand new skis. But those needs were subsidiary to getting a car so I wouldn’t have to walk to work in the freezing cold.

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Flagitious is an adjective that means criminal or villainous.

The Latin word flagitium (fla JEE tomb) is a noun that refers to ‘shameful crime.’ Our word of the day is an adjective to describe individuals involved in shameful crime. Here’s an example of flagitious in use:

Andy’s weird behavior made us suspect he was a flagitious person. But after close examination, he was a very nice guy and we were wrong to accuse him of being villainous.

Cavernous is an adjective that means very large.

A cavern is usually understood as a large cave. Its roots in the Latin language reveal that it evolved from the word cavus (KAH voose) which means ‘hollow.’

The cavernous lodging for us was much larger than we needed for a family of three. In fact it was so huge, we could have easily housed twenty people there.

Purview is a noun that refers to the scope of influence or concerns.

Coming from late Middle English with the original meaning of ‘foreseen,’ our word of the day’s use has shifted over the years. It is now used to refer to someone’s range of experience or their ‘view.’ Here’s an example:

Terry was outside of his purview when he gave us medical advice. Looking back, we might have been better off seeking the counsel of a lawyer instead of my plumber.