Nouveau riche is an adjective that means a rich person who has recently acquired their wealth as opposed to having inherited it.

Our word of the day comes directly from a French phrase that translates to ‘new rich.’ The word is frequently used in the plural to describe a class of people who have only recently come into money.

I find all the nouveau rich very charming in their own way. Sure they don’t have the refinement of those of us who came into our money the old fashioned way, but that only makes them all the more refreshing.

Nostrum is a noun that refers to a quick fix.

The latin word noster (KNOW ster) means ‘our.’ Nostrum, which evolved from this word is used in the sense of ‘something of our own making.’ In medicine the word is used in reference to a homemade treatment, often something done in an emergency.

Nostrum can also be used outside of a medical context. For example: This last minute haircut was just a nostrum. I couldn’t get to the barber before my date, so I had no choice but to chop off my hair with a pair of garden sheers.

Vinculum is a noun that refers to a unifying bond.

The Latin word vincire (vin CHEER ay) means ‘bind.’ This word later evolved into our word of the day and is today frequently used in anatomy and math to refer to various kinds of chemical and mathematical bonds.

The word can also be used in a casual context. For example: After watching all those old westerns together, my father and I have formed a viculum that can never be broken. Now all we need is a few horses and posse and we’ll be joined at the hip forever.

Nitid is an adjective that means bright and lustrous.

Our word of the day comes from the Latin word nitidus (KNEE tea deuce) which has also birthed the word ‘neat.’ But between the two words, nitid is the more glamorous.

Angie had the most nitid eyes I had ever seen. She found it odd that I wanted to use her to find my keys under the couch, but I figured I may has well put such bright eyes to use.

Mentation is a noun that refers to mental activity.

Mens (MENS) is the Latin word for minds. It has given English such related words as ‘mental,’ ‘mentality,’ and our word of the day, mentation which may refer to any kind of behavior performed by the brain.

Discovering who ate the cookies didn’t require any mentation on my part. I only had to trace the crumbs to Oscar’s food dish. The only calculations needed involved finding out how he did it without anyone seeing him.

Conge is a noun that refers to an unceremonious dismissal.

Coming originally from the Latin word commeatus (comb may OT toos) which means ‘go and come,’ our word of the day was later imported into French and is now used to refer to a dismissal of some kind. It can be used formally or casually. An example of its casual use: Gloria was willing to endure all of my personal quirks up to a point. But when I revealed I was more of a Star Trek fan than Star Wars fan, it was time for her give me my conge.

Noxious is an adjective that means dangerous.

The Latin word noxa (NOKES ah) means ‘harm.’ This word has evolved into a number of English words like ‘obnoxious,’ and ‘nausea’ that refer to some form of harm. Noxious usually describes something poisonous or very unpleasant — often something of a moral nature.

For example: All those noxious ideas from my campaign manager probably caused me to lose the election. There’s no quicker way to sink in the poles than to engage in behavior that your constituency finds offensive.

Nimbus is a noun that refers to a luminous cloud surrounding something.

The Latin word nimbus (NEEM boose) means ‘rainstorm,’ and, from this origin, our word of the day came to refer to a cloud or halo surrounding something or someone. Although often used in reference to supernatural beings, it can also be used more literally to simply refer to a large, gray rain cloud. Example:

The nimbus on the road up ahead suggests suggests our softball game is going to be cancelled today. That would be third game this year called off due to a pesky rain storm.

Devi is a noun that refers to a Goddess and it is sometimes used as a title.

Our word of the day comes from Sanskrit and is frequently used in Hundu culture. It refers to the supreme goddess and it is also used after the first name of a Hindu woman as a form of respect. For example: We enjoyed dinner at the Dange home. Deval Devi served us a delicious meal.

Laggard is an adjective that means the tendency to lag behind. It’s also a noun that refers to someone one lags behind.

The exact origin of our word of the day is unclear, but we know the word ‘lag’ entered the English language somewhere around the early 16th century. To lag means to fall behind in movement or progress, so as a noun, a laggard is someone who is in the habit of falling behind. As an adjective it describes this act. Here’s an example of it as a noun:

It often takes forever to walk through the mall with Andy because he can be such a laggard. Waiting for him to catch up to us can take hours.